Turner Prize

Turner Prize. An annual prize of £20,000 for British achievement in the visual arts, named after J. M. W. Turner. It was established in 1984 by the Patrons of New Art, a body founded two years earlier (as part of the Friends of the Tate Gallery) to encourage the collection of contemporary art. The regulations have changed somewhat since the prize was inaugurated. Originally it was awarded for ‘the greatest contribution to art in Britain in the previous twelve months’ and was open to critics and administrators (who were shortlisted but never won) as well as artists; since 1991 those eligible are British artists under the age of 50 who have had ‘an outstanding exhibition or other presentation of their work’ in the previous twelve months. The original sponsors, Drexel Burnham Lambert, suffered a financial collapse in 1990 and the prize was suspended that year; since then it has been sponsored by Channel 4 Television, which broadcasts the award ceremony live from Tate Britain. The director of the Tate is on the jury that makes the award. Like the Booker Prize in literature, the Turner Prize attracts a great deal of publicity, but much of this attention has been expressed as damning criticism, as it is regarded by many as showcasing all that is most pretentious and self-regarding in contemporary art. The winners of the prize have been: 1984, Malcolm Morley; 1985, Howard Hodgkin; 1986, Gilbert & George; 1987, Richard Deacon (1949– ); 1988, Tony Cragg (1949– ); 1989, Richard Long; 1990, prize suspended; 1991, Anish Kapoor; 1992, Grenville Davey (1961– ); 1993, Rachel Whiteread; 1994, Antony Gormley; 1995, Damien Hirst; 1996, Douglas Gordon (1967– ); 1997, Gillian Wearing (1963– ); 1998, Chris Ofili (1968– ); 1999, Steve McQueen (1969– ); 2000, Wolfgang Tillmans (1968– ); 2001, Martin Creed (1968– ; 2002, Keith Tyson (1969– ); 2003, Grayson Perry (1960– ).