Screening session
In 2025, 933 works were submitted by 734 artists.
The Idemitsu Art Award is committed to "on-site judging," with five judges actually viewing and judging all submitted works from the first round onwards.
The competition was judged from a variety of perspectives, and eight winning works, including the Grand Prix, and 46 selected works were selected.
Introducing the judges of the Idemitsu Art Award 2025 (titles omitted)
Itaru Oura
Born in 1981. Graduated from Waseda University Graduate School of Letters, Department of Art History with a PhD. in credits. Has been a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama since 2013. Exhibitions she has been in charge of include "Tatsuno Toeko on Papers" (2018), "New Photographic Objects: The Materiality of Photography and Image" (2020), and "Beuys + Palermo" (co-planned, 2021).
Toshiharu Suzuki
Curator at Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. Recent major projects include "Beuys + Palermo" (2021-22, joint project with the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama and the National Museum of Art, Osaka), "Gerhard Richter" (2022-23, joint project with the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo), "Yuriko Kurimoto's Paintings and Space - The Beginning Before the Beginning" (2023, Nagoya Zokei University Gallery), "Frame and Wave" (2024), and "Takuro Tamayama: FLOOR" (2025).
Mizuki Takezaki
Curator, Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art
Originally from Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Nakazono graduated with a degree in Art Studies (Art History) from the Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Letters, Waseda University. After working as a curator at the Kochi Museum of Art, he has been a curator at the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art since 2017. He conducts research using lessons and challenges from the modern era as a foothold for understanding the present and beyond. Major exhibitions he has curated to date include "Treasures of the Kochi Family: From Murayama Kaita to Joseph Beuys" (2014, Kochi Museum of Art), "Encountering the Ever-Changing Faces" (2021, Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art), "Shunsuke Imai: Skirts and Landscapes" (2022, same museum), "Koji Nakazono: Soulmate" (2023, same museum), and "Genichiro-Inokuma: Honolulu" (2024, same museum).
Fumiko Nakamura
He is the chief curator of the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka. He planned and oversaw the Komatsu Chimichi (2024) and KOURYOU (2025) exhibitions in the Osaka Directory Supported by RICHARD MILLE, which introduces young artists in the form of solo exhibitions. He also served as curator at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art from 2007 to 2023, where he planned and oversaw exhibitions such as "After School Playground" (2009), "Magic/Art" (2012), "Photography of the Future" (2014), and "120th Anniversary of the Birth of Yasui Nakaji" (2023). He has been involved with the Aichi Triennale since its inception as an assistant curator, and will serve as the curator of the Aichi International Art Festival 2022 (2022). His major external project curations include "Play in the Flow" (Seeprakard Hotel, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2017), and he has contributed to numerous magazines and books.
Shinnosuke Yoshida
Photo: Gin Hasegawa
Born in Saitama Prefecture in 1983. In 2017, he completed the Doctoral Program in Oil Painting (Oil Painting Techniques and Materials) at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, and obtained a PhD in Fine Arts.
Major solo exhibitions include "Yoshida Shinnosuke Exhibition – PERISCOPE" (2021, GALLERY MoMo Ryogoku).
His major group exhibitions include "20 Years of the TARO Award: 20 Demon Children" (2017, Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum), "Tokyo Art Meeting VI: Revealing the Invisible City: 'TOKYO'" (2015, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo), and "Visions of Contemporary Art: VOCA Exhibition - New Artists of Flat Surfaces" (2013, Ueno Royal Museum).
She has received numerous awards, including the Honorable Mention Award at the VOCA Exhibition in 2013 and the Hasegawa Yuko Award at the Art Award Tokyo Marunouchi in 2012.
He is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Painting, Faculty of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts, majoring in oil painting.
Examination progress report
First round: 933 works → 537 works
Four works were lined up in front of the judges, and a work passed the judging if at least one judge raised their hand.
However, to ensure fairness, works that were not selected in the first three minutes were judged again after all other works had been judged.
Second round: 537 works → 202 works
Four works were lined up in front of the judges, and a work passed the judging if two or more judges raised their hands.
Third round: 202 works → 73 works
Prior to the third round of judging, works remaining by each artist were judged. After that, three works were presented in groups in front of the judges, and the judging was completed when three or more judges raised their hands.
Final selection: 73 works → 54 works
All 73 entries that passed the third round of judging were lined up and judged.
Grand prize decision
The judges selected five works as Grand Prix candidates, and after five rounds of discussion, one work was selected as the Grand Prix winner.
Jury awards and selection of winning works
From the 72 entries excluding the Grand Prix, the judges selected one work for the Jury Prize and 10 works for the Honorable Mention (6 works by Judge Yoshida).
Special student award, selection of additional winning works
Two works were selected for the Special student Award from among the selected works, which were submitted by students.
Afterwards, in place of the two works selected for the Special student Award, two additional winning works were selected.