EigenArt has been awarding the Artus art prize since 2012. The Artus art competition is aimed at self-taught, educated artists. The competition sees itself as a forum for contemporary art – regardless of academic career or commercial success.
The competition for the Artus Art Prize takes up a different theme each year, which invites participants to engage in artistic debate. An expert jury selects works from all submissions. The final vote takes place on Instagram. The prize is combined with a public award ceremony and exhibition.
On this page you will find the current call for entries with all information on the topic, conditions of participation, jury, prizes and submission deadlines.
Theme of the art competition for the Artus 2026 art prize
The freedom of my art
“The freedom of my art” is the theme of the art competition that the EigenArt Art Academy is organizing for the tenth time in 2026. The theme is open and invites individual, contemporary interpretations.
Prizes and award ceremony
- 1st prize: The winner will receive the Artus art prize, designed by the Munich sculptor Anni Rieck.
- 2nd prize: The winner of the second prize will receive a voucher for an art course at the EigenArt art academy worth 500 euros.
- 3rd prize: The third place winner will receive art supplies from boesner worth 250 euros.
Conditions of participation
Who can take part?
The Artus Art Prize is open internationally. The competition is open to visual artists aged 18 and over, regardless of nationality or place of residence.
The competition is aimed at artists who have trained self-taught or through private art academies. Artists who are studying or have studied at a state art academy or whose artistic activity is their main source of income are excluded from participation. The Artus Art Prize is expressly intended as a promotional prize for non-academic positions.
A prerequisite for participation is that the original work submitted must be presented in person or handed over by an authorized person at the award ceremony on 1 May 2026 in Bad Heilbrunn.
What can be submitted?
- A painterly work on the advertised theme.
- Submit a meaningful photo of the work. The image should be in a common format (e.g. JPG, PNG) with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.
- The original image must have a side length of at least 50 centimeters (shortest side).
- Describe the subject, painting technique and format (including dimensions).
- Each participant may submit one work. The image must be created by the participant him/herself and be free of third-party rights.
- The works may not show any persons, works of art or buildings that could infringe the personal rights of third parties.
- Content that is pornographic, racist, defamatory, illegal or offensive will be excluded from the competition.
Additional documents
- A brief description of your artistic career.
- An artist statement.
- A current portrait photo.
- Complete and correct address details, telephone number and e-mail address.
Submission
Send all documents by April 1, 2026 at the latest to .
Subject of the e-mail: “Art competition”
Application deadline: April 1, 2026