Cynthia Valianti Corbett (b, Marlborough, MA, USA) holds a BA (Magna Cum Laude) in Political Science from UMASS Amherst and a MALD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She was the recipient of the 2020 Tufts University Alumni Award with a Career Service Citation in recognition of her achievements and contribution to the international art world. She trained as an art historian at Christie’s Education before establishing her gallery in 2004. Prior to this, she had a high-profile career as an international economist specialising in emerging markets, based in New York and London. Cynthia launched the Young Masters Art Prize in 2009, a unique not-for-profit initiative which celebrates artistic skill and innovation with awareness of the art from the past. The Young Masters Ceramics Prize was created in 2014 and 2017 saw the addition of the Young Masters Emerging Women Artist Award. She curated the post-pandemic art project, Focus on the Female in London during the summer 2021. This platform was designed to support women artists at a critical moment in art history. Most recently Cynthia co-curated with Daisy McMullan the 2022/23 Young Masters Exhibition at The Exhibitionist and Gainsborough Hotels in collaboration with Vestalia Chilton to raise funds for the Young Masters Art Prize 6th edition planned for 2023.

Maylis Grand and her husband James have generously donated Prize money to a dedicated Ceramics Prize, a unique prize for artists working in ceramic media. Maylis is Head of Product Development for a major European perfumery chain. She is also an avid collector of ceramic art.

I have been in the insurance industry for 38 years now running a 3rd generation family business that has been trading for 43 years. I have been a collector since 2008 after launching our love art scheme; a niche product for art collectors and galleries, you could say that Art is my passion! Apart from being an avid collector, my other interests are travelling, theatre, golf and spending time with my family and my gorgeous grandson.

We believe in exceptional customer service and going the extra mile for our clients; providing them with the knowledge that what they love is fully covered.  

Wendy, a trained clinical psychologist, philanthropist, and an artist herself, is a life-long supporter of the arts and is engaged with cultural institutions around the world.  Wendy divides her time between New York, London, and South Africa where she was born. Wendy was a facilitator and a resource for the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and overseas the Kirsh Charitable Foundation. Wendy also founded the A4 Arts Foundation, a project space in Cape Town, dedicated to widening access to the arts in Southern Africa. Wendy’s board roles include Performa, Public Art Fund, Tate International Council, and MoMA PS1. Wendy has received numerous recognitions including: the Freedom of the City of London award in recognition of her contribution to the arts. Wendy’s sculpture was featured in the London Olympic Village and Performa named her one of their Renaissance Women of 2014.

She began collecting at the age of twenty when she earned her first paycheck; her first acquisition was a work by the young, then-unknown artist William Kentridge, who was a friend she wanted to support.  Since then she has devoted herself to supporting the work of artists from the countries where she spends her time, as well as emerging, mid-career, and established artists from all over the world. 

Her tremendous and most generous donation towards the administrative and publishing costs of the Young Masters Art Prize 2019 is helping us achieve an outstanding level of execution of our not-for-profit international initiative during this 10th anniversary year.

In 1972, Viscountess Bridgeman founded Bridgeman Images, today one of the world's most prominent image archives. In 2006, she was lobbied by art market professionals to set up the Artists' Collecting Society, which handles the copyright and resale rights of over 1000 artists, including such high-profile names as Lucian Freud and Stanley Spencer. She has also edited and packaged a number of books connected with the arts and edited two art magazines, The Masters and Discovering Antiques. In 1997, Harriet was awarded the European Women of the Achievement Award in the Arts and, in 2005, she was voted the International Business Woman of the Year. In 2013, she was awarded a CBE for her contribution to the arts.

He generously supports the Prize from 2017 and has again generously donated the money for the Young Masters Emerging Woman Artist Award (previously Emerging Woman Art Prize).

Dr Blatchley is Director of The Glass House Opticians, founder of Capital Aesthetics, and Medical Director of The London Migraine Clinic. 

Henriane Mourgue d’Algue has over two decades of corporate, business management and executive coaching experience across continents and numerous industries. Her current focus is on impact investing, money coaching and accelerating inclusion. Henriane has always had an interest in art having studied Art History at UCL, and aims to give back to the arts through her collecting and philanthropic activities.

Henriane collects works and supports underrepresented artists with a particular interest in the subject of identity and cultural exchange. Henriane was born and raised in Belgium and has lived in worked in the US, Singapore, India, the Middle East and the UK.

She is the Founding Patron for Second Floor Studios, sits on the Executive Board of the Fondation BeLonging (France) and is interested in supporting projects that benefit artists directly.

Originally from France, Dr Virginie Lerouge Knight is an artist who has spent more than 25 years living and working in Asia and currently lives in Shanghai.  Dr Lerouge Knight has exhibited extensively in China, Hong Kong and France and specializes in public art projects and installations.  She is also a performance artist, participating in several major theatre productions in both French and English, as well as co-designing and directing experimental theatre performances at the Shanghai Biennale in 2016, the Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai for the Félix Gonzáles-Torres retrospective exhibition and the architect Tadao Ando’s exhibition at the Pearl Museum which he designed. Drawing on both her artistic and scientific background, Dr Lerouge Knight is passionate about pushing the boundaries of artistic innovation both conceptually and technically, particularly the use of new technologies and materials in the artistic process.

Godfrey Barker is a notable art historian and journalist. He is currently the arts correspondent for The Evening Standard and a contributing editor of ES Magazine. Barker has also written for leading newspapers including The Guardian, The Times, The Economist and The Daily Telegraph. Barker lectures for Sotheby’s and Christie’s and has published, “Vanity Fair: The Rich and the Price of Art” (2008), a book that he is currently adapting for a TV series.

Lady Jill Shaw Ruddock CBE is a London-based philanthropist, author, collector of modern and contemporary ceramics and Italian modernist art, and whose charitable work focuses on the arts and quality of life for the over 50s. She was from 1985-1999 the Managing Director and Partner of the London office of the investment bank Alex Brown and Sons. She is married to Sir Paul Ruddock and she is co chairman of the Ruddock Foundation For The Arts.