The Grand Austrian State Prize (German: Großer Österreichischer Staatspreis) is a decoration given annually by Austria to an artist for exceptional work. The recipient must be an Austrian citizen with a permanent residence in Austria.
It was originally created in 1950 by then education minister Felix Hurdes. The prize is given according to the recommendation by the Austrian Art Senate without a set rotation schedule for literature, music, visual art, or architecture. Since 2003 it has been endowed with a 30,000 euro prize. In the areas of film and artistic photography, the prize is awarded according to a jury and not the Art Senate.
Since 1971, the prize has been given to only one person a year, instead of sometimes given to multiple people in different categories.
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—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)