Rules of the Luxembourg Art Prize

Introduction
a. The Luxembourg Art Prize (hereinafter “the Prize”) is an international art prize organized each year by the Pinacothèque, a museum located in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (hereinafter, “the Museum”).
b. Since its founding in 2015, the goal of this Prize has been to discover and promote talented artists who deserve recognition on the international level, to provide all worthy participants with a museum reference to add to their CV and to provide the winners with substantial financial support.
c. The Luxembourg Art Prize is open to any living amateur or professional artist who produces graphic or decorative artworks, without limitation based on age, nationality, or place of residence.
d. The only selection criterion considered by the Museum is artistic.
e. All participants noted by the Museum selection committee will receive an official certificate of artistic merit issued by the Museum, whether or not they are finalists.
f. Winners of the year receive a substantial sum of money which is paid out with no conditions of use and whose amount depends on their classification. First place receives €20,000, second place receives €10.000 and third place receives €5,000. The amounts awarded to each winner may change with each new edition.
g. Works presented for the Luxembourg Art Prize may use one or more of the following techniques: drawing, printing, installation, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed techniques, decorative arts (textiles and materials, glass, wood, metal, ceramics, mosaics, paper or other techniques).
h. No specific theme is required. Artists are free to present any works they like, no matter their dimensions, volume, and weight.
i. In these regulations and on the website in general, the use of male pronouns to indicate individuals is done only to reduce the amount of text and identifies individuals of any sex without discrimination, and all individuals in general.

1. Call for submissions

1.1. Candidate space and dates
1.1.1. A call for submissions was published on the www.luxembourgartprize.com website and announced on the Web in general.
1.1.2. To participate, artists must complete an application form on the website, after opening an account in their own candidate space (“the account”).
1.1.3. Please open only one account per artist to avoid any confusion.
1.1.4. The call for applications is open to all, every year until September 30 at 11:59:59 pm.
1.1.5. No additional time will be granted.
1.1.6. Out of concern for equity among applicants, the application form is standardized. Consequently, documents or information other than that requested in the online application form may not be provided.
1.1.7. Applicants should not send anything to the Museum by postal mail (letters, catalogs, books, or artworks, for example).

1.2. Groups of applicants
1.2.1. Applicants are divided into three groups, with the only difference being the closing date for access to these groups: Group 1 closes on March 31, Group 2 closes on June 30, and Group 3 closes on September 30.
1.2.2. During the month of October, once the call for applications is over, the 8 artists from each group that the Museum selection committee deems most noteworthy will be named as finalists. 24 different finalists will therefore be named.
1.2.3. Once the closing date for a specific group has passed, it is no longer possible to select it for registration.
1.2.4. Applicants are free to register with one or more groups if allowed on the day’s date.
1.2.5. Up to and including March 31, applicants can decide to register in groups 1, 2, and 3. Starting April 1 and up to June 30 inclusive, applicants can register in groups 2 and 3. And between July 1 and September 30, applicants can register in group 3 only.
1.2.6. For all groups, applicants have up to and including September 30 to complete their application form.
1.2.7. When the date allows registration with multiple groups, the Museum asks to preferably register with the group with a closing date closest to the current date. This will avoid regretting later being unable to register with a specific group if the applicant had access to it at a given time.

1.3. Registration fee
1.3.1. A registration fee must be paid online to be able to participate in selecting the Luxembourg Art Prize.
1.3.2. The amount to be paid will vary based on the currency used, the applicant’s country of residency, and the current exchange rate. The help center indicates the exact amount to be paid: How much is the registration fee?
1.3.3. It is possible to register for multiple groups if the date allows. The registration fee must be paid for each group. Discounts are applied automatically at the time of payment if you register for multiple groups in the same year.
1.3.4. Candidates are completely free to withdraw their application until the results revealing the names of the finalists are announced, i.e., before November 1 of each year, and within a maximum withdrawal period of 90 days (approximately 3 months) following payment of the registration fee. In this case, the registration fee is fully refunded, without the need for the applicant to provide an explanation. The applicant simply needs to notify the Museum of his decision to withdraw their application by contacting the online help center, which will acknowledge receipt.
1.3.5. After the names of the finalists are announced, i.e., on or after November 1, or after the 90-day withdrawal period is exceeded, the artist’s application is considered firm and final, and the application fee cannot be refunded.
1.3.6. The registration fee is paid to the IT subcontractor directly, which provides its expertise and know-how to manage the secure online filing of application forms and to handle the messages received by the help center.

1.4. Application form.
1.4.1. The application form is to be filled out online from the personal account opened by the applicant.
1.4.2. The application form is a single form used for the selection of all groups in which the applicant is registered during the same annual edition.
1.4.3. The single application form can be reused every year.
1.4.4. Applicants can update their application form at any time until the deadline for application submission, set for September 30 inclusive.
1.4.5. The application form is divided into 4 parts: the registration fee, the administrative profile, the artistic profile, and at least one work presented.
1.4.6. Candidates must present at least one work in their application form. There is no maximum.
1.4.7. All application forms for which the registration fee has been paid will be reviewed by the Museum selection committee.
1.4.8. By way of information, the website displays the specific notice “Your form appears complete” as soon as the 4 parts of the form have been filled out. Candidates are free to continue filling out their form and update it until the last day of the call for submissions.
1.4.9. Any candidate who provides untrue information, is not the author of the works presented, paid the entry fee through fraudulent means, or have insulted the other candidates, help center staff, the final jury or the Museum, or in have a disrespectful attitude in general will be banned from entering the contest for life.

2. Duties of the Museum selection committee

2.1. Selection of finalists
2.1.1. The Museum selection committee (hereinafter “the committee”) selects the finalist artists between October 1 and 31 of each year.
2.1.2. The committee is chaired by Hervé Lancelin, the Museum Director.
2.1.3. The names of the other committee members are not disclosed to the public to avoid any external pressure.
2.1.4. The committee selects the 8 artists from each of the three groups who have received the most qualitative points, in order to obtain a selection of 24 different finalists.
2.1.5. Applicants cannot be finalists several times in the same year.
2.1.6. The selection of finalists is announced by the Museum on November 1st. The announcement is made on the website, on social media, and by email to candidates.
2.1.7. With the exception of its President, the museum’s selection committee is renewed each year to allow candidates to present their artistic work to new eyes that are open to new artistic approaches.

2.2. Awarding of certificates of artistic merit
2.2.1. The Museum selection committee does not provide individual advice on the application forms but is in charge of identifying worthy artists who participated in the contest.
2.2.2. The Museum issues a certificate of artistic merit for the year of participation to all artists who distinguished themselves from a qualitative perspective, whether or not they are finalists.
2.2.3. The certificate is downloaded from the candidate’s personal space. It contains a forgery-proof digital signature that makes it unique and authentic. This certificate can be obtained in various foreign languages, among those listed on the website.
2.2.4. The objective of the certificate is to provide official recognition from the Museum to artist participants whose merit and artistic talent have been specifically noted.
2.2.5. Not all participants will necessarily receive a certificate.
2.2.6. Certificates issued by the museum in all cases remain property of the museum.
2.2.7. A certificate can be revoked by the museum at any time and for any reason. By participating in the competition, artists agree that the revocation of a particular certificate does not constitute any harm.

3. Role of the independent final jury
3.1. The Luxembourg Art Prize is awarded by a final independent jury to three winners selected from among the year’s finalists.
3.2. The members of the final jury are appointed by the Museum.
3.3. Museum employees or members of their families may not be part of the final jury under any circumstances.
3.4. The members of the jury may be curators or directors of art museums or foundations, journalists, art critics, art historians, gallery owners, exhibition curators, collectors, artists, intellectuals, writers and/or art professionals.
3.5. Each jury member declares on his or her honor that they are not a family member of any of the finalist artists.
3.6. The Museum sends the final jury the finalists’ application forms starting on November 1st.
3.7. The jury will review the finalists’ application form and communicate its evaluations to the Museum before November 30th.
3.8. Each member of the jury assigns a grade to each finalist, using a scale from 1 point (for the artist in last place) to the number of points corresponding to the total number of finalists (for the artist in first place).
3.9. The same grade can not be awarded multiple times by the same jury member.
3.10. The winners are the first three artists who were awarded the most points by all of the jury members.
3.11. In the event of a tie, a new vote involving only the tied artists will be made until the three winners are assigned.
3.12. The number of points obtained by the finalists will not be made public.
3.13. Winners of the Luxembourg Art Prize are awarded through a financial endowment paid for by the sponsors. First place receives €20,000 (twenty-thousand euros), second place receives €10,000 (ten-thousand euros) and third place receives €5,000 (five-thousand euros). These amounts are paid by wire transfer to the bank or postal account of the winner or a member of their family, opened with a banking, postal or financial institution located in their legal country of residence.
3.14. In accordance with the regulations in effect, the amounts earned by the winners may not be paid in cash or by money transfer services such as Western Union or MoneyGram.
3.15. The winners are entirely free to use the money awarded however they like.
3.16. The winners names are revealed to the public by the Museum on December 1st. The announcement is made on the website, on social media, and by email to the candidates.

4. Copyright
4.1. Artists who have opened a candidate space online retain ownership of all of their copyrights regarding the works of art and information contained in their application form.
4.2. The finalists and winners grant the Museum a free right to reproduce the content of their application form for an unlimited period of time. This right is limited to communications made by the Museum (press releases, publications on the website, publications on social networks, etc.).

5. Personal data
5.1. The Museum ensures that no personal information will be requested from candidates that is not truly useful for reviewing their application.
5.2. Candidates agree and accept that their personal data will be processed electronically by the Museum under Luxembourg law, amended on August 2, 2002, concerning the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data (hereinafter, “the 2002 Law”).
5.3. In the candidate space creation form, applicants are asked to expressly agree to the electronic processing of this data by checking the acceptance box.
5.4. In accordance with Article 28 of the 2002 Law, applicants have a right to access, object to and rectify data concerning them in the candidate space reserved for each applicant.
5.5. Candidates accept and agree that their personal information will be communicated to third parties pursuant to application of the law or for the normal organization of the Luxembourg Art Prize.
5.6. Candidates are free to delete their candidate space at any time by clicking on the “Delete my account” button provided for this purpose.

6. Postponement, cancellation, force majeure
6.1. The Museum reserves the right to postpone or cancel the Luxembourg Art Prize if circumstances require it, in particular, if the applications received do not allow for a selection of finalist artists that meet the quality criteria of the artistic selection committee.
6.2. The applicants, the Museum, and its subcontractors (referred to collectively as “the Parties”) will not be liable for nonperformance of their obligations if a case of force majeure occurs, defined as any unpredictable, unpreventable event arising from circumstances external to the Parties.
6.3. In the extraordinary event of cancellation for a reason other than the occurrence of a force majeure event, the registration fee paid for the year is refunded to the candidates immediately.
6.4. The Museum shall not be held liable for the consequences of any postponement or cancellation.
6.5. The Museum reserves the right to cancel the application of a specific artist and refund the registration fee paid to them without being required to provide a reason for cancellation or invoking the liability of the Museum and its suppliers.

7. Applicable law
7.1. These regulations are subject to Luxembourg law. Any disputes that may arise between the Museum and applicants will be submitted to the competent courts of the judicial district of the City of Luxembourg. The Museum, however, reserves the right to take action in any other competent court.
7.2. As this Regulation has been translated into several languages from French, the version in French is considered to be the reference version in the event of any dispute or translation error.

8. Acceptance
8.1. By participating, the artist acknowledges that they are familiar with these regulations and expressly accept them without reservation.

Last updated on: 11/01/2022 (November 1st 2022).