At the award ceremony held in Riga on 14 November 2025, the Young Painter Prize announced this year’s winner: August Joost, a student of the Estonian Academy of Arts, who received the award for his work “The Solar Anus.” This is only the second time in the history of the competition that an Estonian artist has received the prize.
According to the jury, Joost’s oil painting — executed on two monumental panels of linen canvas — impressed with its intense presence, technical precision, and charged physicality. “This year, the works were exceptionally strong and diverse, which made the jury’s task truly challenging. Such growth demonstrates not only the expanding reach of the competition, but also its rising artistic level,” said the prize’s founder Vilmantas Marcinkevičius.
For the first time, the exhibition of this year’s finalist works will tour all three Baltic countries. The finalists are currently on view at the Latvian Academy of Art Gallery in Riga. The exhibition will then travel to the Panevėžys Art Centre Pragiedruliai, where it will be open until 19 January. Audiences in Estonia will be able to visit the exhibition at Tartu Art House from 30 January to 3 March 2026.
Founded in 2009 by Lithuanian artist Vilmantas Marcinkevičius, the Young Painter Prize aims to give young artists visibility and professional recognition. This year’s competition attracted a record number of participants, with 25 finalists selected from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Ukraine.
The finalists were chosen from 157 submitted works by a five-member international jury: American art historian and curator Gail Buckland; Estonian painter and Head of the Painting Department at EKA Kristi Kongi; Lithuanian artist and YPP founder Vilmantas Marcinkevičius; British curator Bill McAlister; and Latvian Academy of Art professor and painter Andris Vītoliņš.
The 2025 Luminor Prize for Youth Empowerment was awarded to Ieva Kampe-Krumholca from Latvia for her work “Ariadne’s Clue – Follow the Light of Your Heart.” Honourable mentions were presented to Katrīna Levāne (Latvia), Stefan Stoikov (Ukraine), and Mantas Valentukonis (Lithuania).
