Apollo honours the art-world successes of the year

By Apollo, 1 December 2025


On 20 November, the 2025 edition of the Apollo Awards took place at Old Sessions House in London. More than 100 artists, museum directors, curators, art historians and dealers from around the globe came together to recognise the greatest achievements in the art and museum world over the last year.

The awards were generously supported by our partners Whisky 1901 (Artist of the Year), TM Lighting (Exhibition of the Year), BRAFA (Acquisition of the Year), Bloomberg Connects (Museum Opening of the Year), Well of Art (Digital Innovation of the Year), Wedlake Bell (Book of the Year) and Cadogan Tate (Personality of the Year).

Hew Locke, winner of Apollo’s 2025 Artist of the Year award, gives a short speech at the podium. Photo: David Owens
Imogen Tedbury, Caroline Campbell and Laura Llewellyn collect the Exhibition of the Year award for ‘Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350’; pictured here with Edward Behrens, editor of Apollo. Photo: David Owens
Lord Lupton, chairman of the board of visitors at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, collects the Acquisition of the Year award for the Ashmolean’s purchase of Fra Angelico’s The Crucifixion with the Virgin, Saint John the Evangelist and the Magdalen; pictured here with Edward Behrens, editor of Apollo. Photo: David Owens
Axel Rüger, director of the Frick Collection in New York, steps up to the podium to accept the Museum Opening of the Year award. Photo: David Owens
Lily Pregill and Sandra van Ginhoven of the Getty Research Institute collect the Digital Innovation of the Year award for the Getty Provenance Index. Photo: David Owens
Ngarino Ellis and Deidre Brown, winners of the Book of the Year award for Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art. Photo: David Owens
John Booth, chairman of the board of trustees of the National Gallery and joint winner – with the museum’s director, Gabriele Finaldi – of the Personality of the Year award. Photo: David Owens
Hew Locke and Jo Stella-Sawicka at the 2025 Apollo Awards at Old Sessions House, London. Photo: David Owens
Hettie Judah at the 2025 Apollo Awards at Old Sessions House, London. Photo: David Owens
Christopher Turner and Carrie Rees at the 2025 Apollo Awards at Old Sessions House, London. Photo: David Owens
Ernesto Ottone Ramírez and Matilda Machimura of UNESCO at the 2025 Apollo Awards at Old Sessions House, London. Photo: David Owens
Christina Makris and Anastasia Aya Aroukatos at the 2025 Apollo Awards at Old Sessions House, London. Photo: David Owens