Aim
The Sovereign Art Foundation is a registered charity in Hong Kong established in 2003 with the goal of supporting worthy charitable artistic causes.
This is achieved through the annual Sovereign European and Asian Art Prizes.
The Sovereign Art Prizes are visual arts prizes established to give recognition to some of the most important artists of our time.
Procedure
Held annually, the Sovereign Art Prizes invites established artists to enter the competition which carries a first prize of US$25,000.
Entries are judged by a panel of art experts and professionals from the region and an exhibition of the top 30 entries is held. The announcement of the first prizewinner and public prizewinner is made during the exhibition or auction dinner. The public prize is awarded to the piece which receives the most votes from the public who attended the exhibition or cast their votes through the Foundation website.
With the exception of the winning entry, which becomes the property of the Foundation, all art works are sold by auction during a special charity dinner. The proceeds of each work are evenly split between the artist and the Foundation.
Nearly all associated costs for the exhibition and auction events are absorbed through sponsorship from The Sovereign Group and others leaving funds raised to be used to support emerging artists and worthwhile artistic projects.
History
The Foundation was initially set up to promote and aid Asian artists through the annual competition and charity auction. Due to the overwhelming success of the Sovereign Asian Art Prize, the Foundation expanded to London and the Sovereign European Art prize was established in 2005.
In 2004 we established the Sovereign Art Foundation Fellowship in conjuction with the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) (affiliated to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund). Since then the Foundation has also assisted various other worthy charitable artistic causes.
Founder
The Sovereign Art Foundation was registered as a charity in Hong Kong in 2003. The Foundation was set up by Howard Bilton, a tax lawyer who turned his art-collecting hobby into what is now Asia's largest art prize. Howard is also the chairman of The Sovereign Group.
The first Sovereign office opened in Gibraltar in 1987 and now has offices or agents in all the major offshore and onshore financial centres. This global reach enables them to provide international access from a local point of delivery.
Sovereign's core business is setting up and managing tax-efficient structures to assist wealth management, foreign property ownership and cross-border business. In addition to high net worth individuals and their families, our clients include expatriates, entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes. Sovereign also offers a wide range of services which are a natural adjunct to their main activity, including asset management, financing, specialist tax advice and credit cards.
