The Prince Eugen Medal
The Prince Eugen Medal. Photo: Alexis Daflos/Kungl. Hovstaterna
The Prince Eugen Medal was instituted by King Gustaf V to mark Prince Eugen’s 80th birthday in 1945. The medal is conferred in recognition of outstanding artistic achievements.
The medal is conferred on the name day of Eugen (5 November) with the investiture itself taking place shortly thereafter.
The medal is conferred in gold (gilded silver) in the eighth size, and is worn on the chest on a white-yellow-white ribbon with blue edges. The medal recipient’s name and year of conferral are inscribed on the lower rim of the medal.
H.M. the King presents the medal to the Artist Ulla Wiggen. Photo: Jonas Borg
The Prince Eugen Medal, for men to the left and for women to the right. Photo: Mattias Hellström/SPA
Prince Eugen 1865-1947
Eugen Napoleon Nikolaus was born in August 1865 at Drottningholm Palace as the youngest son of Oskar (II) and Sofia of Nassau. Prince Eugen was Duke of Närke.
After completing his schooling and qualifying as an officer, he devoted himself exclusively to his artistry. His work was exhibited for the first time in Paris in 1889 with pieces including a Scania landscape. Eugen was among the artists who created the national Swedish landscape style of the 1890s. His works include the Old Castle, the Cloud and the Mill.
In 1898, the Prince executed his first mural, with atmospheric scenes from the Haga Park in Stockholm, for the royal foyer of the opera house. He has also painted frescoes for the Royal Dramatic Theatre and Stockholm City Hall. In 1899 Eugen bought Waldemarsudde on Royal Djurgården in Stockholm. In the 1920s, he was often inspired in his motifs by Italy and Österlen in Scania.
Eugen was one of the most prominent landscape painters of his era and a significant art collector, with a focus on primarily Swedish art. In 1945, on his 80th birthday, Gustaf V instituted the Prince Eugen Medal for outstanding artistic achievement.
Eugen passed away at Waldemarsudde in 1947, bequeathing his home and art collections to the Swedish state. At the end of June 1948, the museum Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde opened to the public.
Read more about the museum Prins Eugens Waldemarsudde 
External link.
Prince Eugen portraid by Oscar Halldin 1909. Photo from the archive of the Bernadotte Library.