Venice Biennale - Golden Lions

Golden Lions

The Venice Biennale has awarded prizes to the artists participating at the Exhibition since the first edition back in 1895. Grand Prizes were established in 1938 and ran until 1968 when they were abolished due to the protest movement. Prizes were taken up again in 1986. There are five judges on the jury.

• 1986 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Frank Auerbach, Sigmar Polke (Germany)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Daniel Buren (France)

• 1988 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Jasper Johns (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Italy

• 1990 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Giovanni Anselmo (Italy), Bernd and Hilla Becher (Germany)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Jenny Holzer (USA)

• 1993 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Richard Hamilton (United Kingdom), Antoni Tapies (Spain), Robert Wilson (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Hans Haacke, Nam June Paik (Germany)

• 1995:
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Artist of the international exhibition: Gary Hill (USA), R. B. Kitaj (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Akram El Magdoub, Hamdi Attia, Medhat Shafik, Khaled Shokry (Egypt)

• 1997 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Emilio Vedova (Italy), Agnes Martin (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Artist of the international exhibition: Marina Abramovic (USA) and Gerhard Richter (Germany)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Fabrice Hyber (France)

• 1999 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Louise Bourgeois (France), Bruce Nauman (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Artist of the international exhibition: Doug Aitken (USA), Cai Guo-Qiang (China), and Shirin Neshat (Iran)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Monica Bonvicini, Bruna Esposito, Luisa Lambri, Paola Pivi, Grazia Toderi (Italy)

• 2001 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Richard Serra (USA), Cy Twombly (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Artist of the international exhibition: Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Marisa Merz (Italy), and Pierre Huyghe (France)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Gregor Schneider (Germany)

• 2003 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Michelangelo Pistoletto (Italy), Carol Rama (Italy)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Artist of the international exhibition: Peter Fischli and David Weiss (Switzerland)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Young Artist: Oliver Payne and Nick Relph (United Kingdom)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Sun-Mei Tse (Luxemburg)

• 2005 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Barbara Kruger (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Artist of the international exhibition: Thomas Schütte (Germany)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Young Artist: Regina José Galindo
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Annette Messager (France)

• 2007 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Malick Sidibé (Mali)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Artist of the international exhibition: León Ferrari (Argentina)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Young Artist: Emily Jacir (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Andreas Fogarasi (Hungary)

• 2009 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Yoko Ono (Japan), John Baldessari (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Artist of the international exhibition: Tobias Rehberger (Germany)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Young Artist: Nathalie Djurberg (Sweden)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Bruce Nauman (USA)

• 2011 :
  • Leone d'Oro for Lifetime Achievement: Franz West (Austria), Elaine Sturtevant (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Artist of the international exhibition: Christian Marclay (USA)
  • Leone d'Oro for the Best Young Artist: Haroon Mirza (United Kingdom)
  • Leone d'Oro for Best Pavilion: Christoph Schlingensief (Germany)