Julien Heintz wins the Jean-François Prat Prize 2026

The 15th Jean-François Prat Prize was awarded to the artist Julien HEINTZ on Thursday 25 June 2026 at the Bredin Prat Foundation for Contemporary Art 53 quai d’Orsay, Paris.

His work was presented to the Jury by Rose VIDAL, artist, author and art critic. 

The Jury was chaired by Chiara PARISI, director of the Centre Pompidou Metz.

Julien HEINTZ, born in 1997 in Paris, is the winner of the Jean-François Prat Prize 2026.

The two other artists presented were HIPPOLYTE HENTGEN and Sojourner Truth PARSONS.

Julien HEINTZ’s portraits stand out from the current profusion in this genre for their singularity, as they draw attention to nameless soldiers or prisoners whom we do not necessarily register beyond their roles as oppressors or oppressed, but who are, above all, persons, human beings. Working on the basis of historical archive films, the artist deliberately blurs and smooths the faces so that they are almost indistinguishable, prompting us to look at them much more closely, to give them due attention and to question the actions committed by of these individuals.

Chiara PARISI, who chaired the Jury, expressed what interested her in this edition of the Jean-François Prat Prize:

“This year’s prize—marking the event’s 15th anniversary—demonstrates a high level of rigor regarding the very act of painting, as well as the thinking of painting and the stories it tells. There is a profound faith in painting here.” Read more