ARTnews has announced the nominees for the 2025 ARTnews Awards, which honor excellence in art at US institutions and galleries. Now in its second year, the awards feature six categories: Emerging Artist, Established Artist, Lifetime Achievement, Best Thematic Museum Exhibition, Best Gallery Group Show, and a newly introduced Best Historical Artist category, reflecting a growing focus on under-sung artists of the past. The jury includes five top US curators and two ARTnews editors, with winners to be celebrated in November.
The awards matter because they provide a curated record of the best exhibitions and bodies of work on view in the United States over the past year, offering recognition across career stages and institutional contexts. The addition of the Best Historical Artist category signals a broader shift in the art world toward recovering and honoring overlooked historical figures, while the involvement of leading curators lends the awards significant critical weight.