Carenegie International

Contact: Ellen James, +1 412.688.8690, www.cmoa.org

The Carnegie International continues Andrew Carnegie's vision of discovering the "Old Masters of Tomorrow"

For more than 100 years, the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh has been at the center of the world of contemporary art. Andrew Carnegie would have wanted it that way. His vision in 1895 to create a museum of modern art soon spawned a series of exhibitions from which dozens of prominent artists have emerged. The Carnegie International is marked by both its longevity and by its prominence, with exhibitions that include the work of several Turner prize nominees and winners.

The Carnegie International, at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum of Art, has helped define the world of contemporary art longer than any other venue in North America and, trailing Venice with its Venice Biennale, the world. The Carnegie International is a showcase for what its founder, Andrew Carnegie, envisioned as the "Old Masters of Tomorrow." His ambition was to make the treasures of the world accessible to ordinary people, and he saw these exhibitions as a way to build a permanent collection for his museum. At least 300 acquisitions to date include works exhibited by Louise Bourgeois, Mary Cassatt, Eduardo Chillida, Willem de Kooning, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Ellsworth Kelley, Mike Kelly, Anselm Kiefer, Sol LeWitt, Camille Pissarro, Sigmar Polke, John Singer Sargent, Richard Serra, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, James A. McNeill Whistler, and others.

More recent exhibitions have included winners or nominees of Britain's Turner Prize, regarded as the most prestigious and sometimes controversial award in contemporary art. These include 2004 Turner winner Jeremy Deller, 2006 nominee Phil Collins, and current nominee Richard Wright. The Carnegie International itself awards a $10,000 Carnegie Prize to an artist for outstanding lifetime achievement, and a $10,000 Fine Prize to an emerging artist.

Last year's 55th Carnegie International, entitled Life on Mars, accounted for a large portion of the 386,300 visitors to the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History in 2008, a 55% increase in attendance over recent years. Combined, the museums generated $35.5 million dollars in tourist spending.

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