• The award has a first prize purse of 24,000 euros and two honourable mentions with purses of 6,000 euros each. It is open to professionals and amateurs from any European Union member state or American country.
• The deadline to submit applications is 10th May.

Seville, 6th March 2007.- The Focus-Abengoa Foundation has opened up a new edition of the Focus-Abengoa Painting Prize, an award that has gained status as one of the most important painting events in the European and American art scene. This year it is celebrating its 25th edition.

Over these 25 years, thousands of artists have submitted their creations to the Focus-Abengoa Foundation. Some have been shown in the different exhibitions of the foundation's own collection which are held on a yearly basis in the Hospital de los Venerables in Seville, while many other are now part of the décor in Abengoa's many offices and those of its subsidiaries.

Just as it has been every year since it was created in 1987, participation in this event is open to professionals and amateurs from any European Union member state or American country. This universal nature reflects the Focus-Abengoa Foundation’s commitment to contemporary art and the concerns and pursuits of its creators, thus contributing to generating an exchange of artistic experiences. For this reason, the painting technique and subject matter ultimately depend on the artist's tastes.

In order to participate in this latest edition, interested artists must send the Foundation the application form filled out by 10th May. The artist awarded the first prize will receive a purse of 24,000 euros, plus two honourable mentions with purses of 6,000 euros each will also be awarded. These three works will then be added to Focus-Abengoa's collection.

From the Hospital de los Venerables to ARCO
The work entitled Verde pequeña madera (Small Green Wood) by the Badajoz-based artist Ruth Morán, is the latest to join the Focus-Abengoa Collection. With this painting, Morán, who holds a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Seville, managed to "insert into abstract art its capacity for spatial and symbolic evocation, the austerity of the vernacular and spatial evocation (sound, music, interior landscape)", as noted by the jury for the 24th edition after examining a total of 400 works.

The quality of Ruth Morán's work was further endorsed by her participation in the latest edition of ARCO – Madrid's International Contemporary Art Fair, where her work Negro cielo dorado (Black Golden Sky) was displayed at the stand of the ABC Art Centre.

María José Gallardo, the artist hailing from Extremadura who won the Focus-Abengoa Painting Prize in 2005 for her work N. E. N. E. He seguido el movimiento de tus labios (N.E.N.E., I have followed the movement of your lips), also showed her works at this prestigious art fair.

Ever since it was founded, the Focus-Abengoa Foundation has shown clear signs of its interest in all cultural pursuits, not just ones with direct links to the city of Seville but all types of artistic, literary and scientific expressions, both national and international.

The Focus-Abengoa Foundation was created in 1982 as the outcome of the cultural efforts begun by Abengoa back in 1972 with its publication of Sevillian Topics and Iconography of Seville. During this same period, a collection of documents, books and engravings on the Kingdom of Seville and Sevillian authors was also amassed. This initial cultural impetus led Abengoa's leaders to realise the importance of going beyond the company's merely technological functions with activities that would benefit society. Thus, the Fondo de Cultura de Sevilla Foundation was born.