South African visual artist, William Kentridge, has won Spain’s most prestigious art prize, the Princess of Asturias award.
The 62-year-old multidisciplinary artist has a led a life of reinvention.
After studying politics and African studies at the University of Witwatersrand, Kentridge studied fine arts at the Johannesburg Art Foundation.
Kentridge is one of the world’s most celebrated artists, best known for his animated drawings in black charcoal and ink.
His works have been exhibited at places such as the Albertina Museum in Vienna, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Louvre in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York.
The prize jury hailed Kentridge as “one of the most multifaceted innovative artists on the international scene” in its citation for the 50 000 euros (about R740 000) award, according to France24.com.
The awards will be given out in a ceremony presided by Spanish King Felipe and broadcast live on television around October, and other categories include literature, social sciences, communication and humanities, technical and scientific research, international coorperation, concord and sports.