One more year, the Teatro Real in Madrid has been the scene of the BMW Painting Prize galawhich this Monday announced the winners of the 40th edition.
The Navarrese artist Amaya Suberviola (1993) has obtained the BMW of Painting for his work ST25061 (Pick up an eyelash with your fingers), while the Madrid native Chino Moya (1976) has won in the Digital Art category for his audiovisual piece Metapope.
Suberviola was already selected as a finalist in last year’s edition, in which the painter Damaris Pan was the winner, and was awarded the Mario Antolín Scholarship in 2022.
Chaired by Queen Doña Sofía, more than 1,300 guests from the cultural, artistic and social spheres have celebrated the 40th anniversary of this award. Furthermore, the BMW Group wanted to pay tribute to His Majesty for his constant support for culture and the arts, as well as his commitment to social and humanitarian causes.
With this edition, the BMW Painting Award celebrates four decades of uninterrupted commitment to culture and artistic talentconsolidating itself as one of the most prestigious events in Europe. Since its creation in 1986, the award has boosted the careers of more than 29,000 artists, helping to strengthen the ties between business, art and society.
Chino Moya receives the Digital Art award from Queen Sofía during the gala of the 40th edition of the BMW Painting Awards. Photo: Juanjo Martín / EFE
“Art is a transformation engine of thought, and culture an essential tool for the development of societies,” said Oliver Zipse, global president of the BMW Group, during his speech. “Our support for art is not an isolated gesture, but a global commitment that seeks to build bridges between creativity, innovation and corporate citizenship.”
For his part, Manuel Terroba, executive president of the BMW Group for Spain and Portugal, stressed that “having reached forty editions is living proof that art and innovation, tradition and modernity, can walk hand in hand”.
He also added that “the BMW Painting Prize has managed to evolve with the times, opening up to new languages such as digital art, and becoming a showcase of diversity, innovation and excellence.”
Forty years of culture
The actor and BMW ambassador Álex González has been in charge of conducting a gala which has included the participation of the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, directed by Salvador Vázquez, who, together with the Dúo del Valle, Antonio Najarro and José Mercé, has made an emotional journey through Spanish creation of the last four decades, from Falla to Manuel Alejandro, which culminated with a performance of Our love broke in tribute to Rocío Jurado.
Amaya Suberviola’s award-winning work: ‘ST25061 (Pick up an eyelash with your fingers)’
The artist Alaska, in charge of one of the most applauded interventions of the night, recalled her experiences and the cultural effervescence of Spain in the eighties, a time in which the Prize was born (1986), and has claimed the value of creativity as a hallmark: “La Movida did not end in the eighties. Relive every time an artist dares to challenge the established and every time Spain reinvents itself. Because creativity here is not taught, it is breathed.”
The jury of this edition—made up of Antonio López, Miguel Zugaza, Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Guillermo Solana and Lucía Casani—selected the winners from almost 2,000 artists from 38 nationalities, consolidating the BMW Painting Prize as an open window to the world and creative diversity.
The finalists in the painting category were José Ramón Amondarain, Taxio Ardanaz, Igor Arrieta, Marta Beltrán, Cristina Mejías, Simón Sepúlveda and An Wei Lu Li.
In digital art, those selected were Juan Carlos Bracho, Amaya Hernández and Elisa Villota Sádaba.
Furthermore, this year and for the first time, all the finalist works of the 40th edition can be seen for the first time at the Conde Duque Cultural Center in Madrid, from November 20, 2025 to the end of January 2026.
Throughout its 40-year history, the BMW Painting Prize has recognized artists such as Florencio Maíllo, Rafa Macarrón, Ángeles Agrela, Miki Leal, Santiago Ydáñez, Sonia Navarro and Damaris Pan, who found in this contest a decisive boost in their career.