Edmund de Waal Awarded Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Isamu Noguchi Prize
The Facts
On August 27, 2026, Galerie Max Hetzler announced that artist and writer Edmund de Waal has been awarded the medal of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by France. He will also receive the Isamu Noguchi Award for 2023, presented by the Noguchi Museum on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, alongside artist Theaster Gates and novelist Hanya Yanagihara. De Waal's solo exhibition 'the eight directions of the wind' opens at The Huntington in Los Angeles on October 18, 2026, featuring site-specific installations. His installation 'Library of Exile' (2019–2020) will become part of the Warburg Renaissance at the Warburg Institute in London, and he will donate nearly 2,000 books from the work to the Mosul University Library in Iraq. De Waal will also be in conversation with James S. Snyder, Director of The Jewish Museum, New York, on September 17, 2026, ahead of the group exhibition 'Sacred Splendor' at the museum.
The Signal
The multiple honors and institutional projects mark a significant moment for de Waal, whose practice bridges contemporary art, literature, and historical memory. The Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and the Isamu Noguchi Award recognize his interdisciplinary impact, while the permanent installation at the Warburg Institute and the book donation to Mosul University underscore his commitment to themes of exile, translation, and cultural reconstruction. For collectors and curators, de Waal's expanding institutional footprint—from The Huntington to the Warburg and the Jewish Museum—signals sustained demand for work that engages with material history and narrative.
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- Artists: Edmund de Waal
- People: Edmund de Waal, James S. Snyder, Theaster Gates, Hanya Yanagihara, Hartwig Fischer, Elif Shakef
- Galleries: Galerie Max Hetzler
- Museums: The Jewish Museum, The Huntington, Warburg Institute, The British Museum, Noguchi Museum, Musée Nissim de Camondo, Mosul University Library
- Locations: New York, Los Angeles, London, Mosul, Paris
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