Sikkens Prize
The Sikkens Prize is one of the Netherlands’ oldest independent art prizes. It is awarded once every few years to individuals or institutions that are considered to have made a special contribution to the field of colour.
Previous winners of the Sikkens Prize
Established in 1959, previous winners include Gerrit Rietveld (1960), Le Corbusier (1963), Donald Judd (1993) and Bridget Riley (2013). The most recent winner of the Sikkens Prize (2022) is the world-famous Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf.
Pioneering work on the importance of colour in society
The majority of the recipients have been individual artists and architects known for their groundbreaking use of colour, but the Sikkens Foundation does not restrict itself to the visual arts and architecture. Instead, it places colour – which is, after all, a universal phenomenon – in a broader context. This is made clear by the fact that the Prize was also awarded to the hippie movement (1970), de Rijksdienst (National office) for the IJsselmeerpolders (1979), filmmaker Ettore Scola (1983), the city cleaning department of Paris (1995) and Dutch retail company HEMA (2004).
The world-famous Dutch landscape architect Piet Oudolf received the Sikkens Prize 2022 in Museum Voorlinden on October 2nd 2022. During this occasion the American planetary scientist Carolyn Porco received the Sikkens Prize 2020, this ceremony was postponed due to the corona restrictions. Oudolf and Porco form a great combination: from the shimmering palet of celestial bodies to the soft colours of gardens. We were standing rooted in the earth during the ceremony, in a paradise garden, with our gazes on the stunning beauty of the universe.
Together with the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds the Sikkens Foundation launched the campaign Grey goes Green. Read more about the winners of this campaign.
Winners of the Sikkens Prize Piet Oudolf (2022) and Carolyn Porco (2020)