American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals

Two American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medals are awarded each year by the academy for distinguished achievement. The two awards are taken in rotation from these categories: Belles Lettres and Criticism, and Painting; Biography and Music; Fiction and Sculpture; History and Architecture, including Landscape Architecture; Poetry and Music; Drama and Graphic Art.

The Academy voted in 1915 to establish an additional Gold Medal for "special distinction" to be given for the entire work of the recipient who is not a member of the academy. "Mr. Howells and Dr. Eliot," New York Times. November 21, 1915. The first of these occasional lifetime achievement gold medals was awarded in the next year to former Harvard President, Charles Eliot."Gold Medal for Dr. Eliot; President Emeritus of Harvard Honored by American Academy of Arts," New York Times. November 21, 1915; "Gold Medal for Dr. Eliot; American Academy Honors Educator's Work for Literature," New York Times. January 28, 1916.

Awards in individual categories are listed below (in alphabetical order) followed by a list of all prizes in reverse chronological order:Source:American Academy of Arts and Letters. . Retrieved October 5, 2013.

Architecture Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters 1912 – William Rutherford Mead "National Institute Honors W.R. Mead; Its Gold Medal Awarded to Noted Architect at the Annual Dinner," New York Times. December 13, 1912.

1921 – Cass Gilbert 1930 – Charles Adams Platt 1940 – William Adams Delano 1949 – Frederick Law Olmsted 1953 – Frank Lloyd Wright 1958 – Henry R. Shepley 1963 – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe 1968 – R. Buckminster Fuller 1973 – Louis I. Kahn 1979 – I. M. Pei 1984 – Gordon Bunshaft 1990 – Kevin Roche 1996 – Philip Johnson 2002 – Frank O. Gehry 2008 – Richard Meiervan Gelder, Lawrence. "Arts, Briefly: American Academy Picks Caro and Trillin," New York Times. April 17, 2008. 2014 – Henry N. Cobb 2020 – Peter Eisenman

Belles lettres, criticism, essays Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters

1916 – John Burroughs 1925 – William Crary Brownell 1935 – Agnes Repplier 1946 – Van Wyck Brooks 1950 – H. L. Mencken 1955 – Edmund Wilson 1960 – E. B. White 1965 – Walter Lippmann 1970 – Lewis Mumford 1975 – Kenneth Burke 1981 – Malcolm Cowley 1987 – Jacques Barzun 1993 – Elizabeth Hardwick 1999 – Harold Bloom 2005 – Joan Didionvan Gelder, Lawrence. "Arts, Briefly: American Academy Honors," New York Times. May 19, 2005. 2011 – Eric Bentley 2017 – Janet Malcolm 2023 – Helen Hennessy Vendler

Biography Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters 1976 – Leon Edel 1982 – Francis Steegmuller 1988 – James Thomas Flexner 1994 – Walter Jackson Bate 2000 – R. W. B. Lewis 2006 – Robert Caro 2012 – David McCullough 2018 – Ron Chernow 2024 – Doris Kearns Goodwin

Drama Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters

1913 – Augustus Thomas "Thomas Visits Mother; Playwright Shows Her the Medal Presented to Him by Academy," New York Times. November 17, 1913. 1922 – Eugene O'Neill 1931 – William Gillette 1941 – Robert E. Sherwood 1954 – Maxwell Anderson 1959 – Arthur Miller 1964 – Lillian Hellman 1969 – Tennessee Williams 1980 – Edward Albee 1986 – Sidney Kingsley 1992 – Sam Shepard 1998 – Horton Foote 2004 – John Guare 2010 – Romulus Linney 2016 – Wallace Shawn 2022 – Adrienne Kennedy

Fiction, novel, short story Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters

1915 – Charles William Eliot 1915 – William Dean Howells "National Institute Honors Howells; His Letter, Thanking It for Gold Medal, Says Fashion in Novels Has Changed," New York Times. November 20, 1915. 1929 – Edith Wharton 1933 – Booth Tarkington 1944 – Willa Cather 1952 – Thornton Wilder 1957 – John Dos Passos 1962 – William Faulkner 1967 – Katherine Anne Porter 1972 – Eudora Welty 1977 – Saul Bellow 1978 – Peter Taylor 1983 – Bernard Malamud 1989 – Isaac Bashevis Singer 1995 – William Maxwell 2001 – Philip Roth 2007 – John Updikevan Gelder, Lawrence. "Arts, Briefly: American Academy Honors," New York Times. May 17, 2007. 2013 – E. L. Doctorow 2019 – Toni Morrison 2025 – Don DeLilloFedor, Ashley. "American Academy of Arts and Letters Announces 2025 Highest Honors", American Academy of Arts and Letters. March 27, 2025.

Graphic art Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters

1954 – Reginald Marsh 1959 – George Grosz 1964 – Ben Shahn 1969 – Leonard Baskin 1974 – Saul Steinberg 1980 – Peggy Bacon 1986 – Jasper Johns 1992 – David Levine 1998 – Frank Stella 2004 – Chuck Close 2010 – Ed Ruscha 2016 – Vija Celmins 2022 – Kara Walker

History Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters

1910 – James Ford Rhodes 1918 – William Roscoe Thayer 1927 – William M. Sloane 1937 – Charles M. Andrews 1948 – Charles Austin Beard 1952 – Carl Sandburg 1957 – Allan Nevins 1962 – Samuel Eliot Morison 1967 – Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. 1972 – Henry Steele Commager 1978 – Barbara W. Tuchman 1984 – George F. Kennan 1990 – C. Vann Woodward 1996 – Peter Gay 2002 – John Hope Franklin 2008 – Edmund S. Morgan 2014 – Natalie Zemon Davis 2020 – David W. Blight

Music

1919 – Charles Martin Loeffler 1928 – George W. Chadwick 1938 – Walter Damrosch 1942 – Ernest Bloch 1947 – John Alden Carpenter 1951 – Igor Stravinsky 1956 – Aaron Copland 1961 – Roger Sessions 1966 – Virgil Thomson 1971 – Elliott Carter 1976 – Samuel Barber 1982 – William Schuman 1985 – Leonard Bernstein 1988 – Milton Babbitt 1991 – David Diamond 1994 – Hugo Weisgall 1997 – Gunther Schuller 2000 – Lukas Foss 2003 – Ned Roremvan Gelder, Lawrence. "Arts Briefing: American Academy Honors," New York Times. May 19, 2003. 2006 – Stephen Sondheim 2009 – Leon Kirchner 2012 – Steve Reich 2015 – George Crumb2015 Gold Medals in Music 2018 – John Adams 2021 – Yehudi Wyner 2024 – Laurie Anderson

Painting

1914 – John Singer Sargent 1923 – Edwin Howland Blashfield 1932 – Gari Melchers 1942 – Cecilia Beaux 1950 – John Sloan 1955 – Edward Hopper 1960 – Charles E. Burchfield 1965 – Andrew Wyeth 1970 – Georgia O'Keeffe 1975 – Willem de Kooning 1981 – Raphael Soyer 1987 – Isabel Bishop 1993 – Richard Diebenkorn 1999 – Robert Rauschenberg 2005 – Jane Freilicher 2011 – Cy Twombly 2017 – Wayne Thiebaud 2023 – Faith Ringgold

Poetry

1911 – James Whitcomb Riley 1929 – Edwin Arlington Robinson 1939 – Robert Frost 1953 – Marianne Moore 1958 – Conrad Aiken 1963 – William Carlos Williams 1968 – W. H. Auden 1973 – John Crowe Ransom 1979 – Archibald MacLeish 1985 – Robert Penn Warren 1991 – Richard Wilbur 1997 – John Ashbery 2003 – W. S. Merwin 2009 – Mark Strand 2015 – Louise Gluck 2021 – Rita Dove

Sculpture

1909 – Augustus Saint-Gaudens "Men of Letters Honor St. Gaudens; First Gold Medal of Their Institute Is a Tribute to Memory of the Dead Sculptor. Given to Mrs. St. Gaudens; Notable Men at Ceremonial Where Dr. Van Dyke Makes Principal Address – Letter from President," New York Times. November 21, 1909. 1917 – Daniel Chester French 1926 – Herbert Adams 1930 – Anna Hyatt Huntington 1936 – George Grey Barnard 1945 – Paul Manship 1951 – James Earle Fraser 1956 – Ivan Meštrović 1961 – William Zorach 1966 – Jacques Lipchitz 1971 – Alexander Calder 1977 – Isamu Noguchi 1983 – Louise Nevelson 1989 – Louise Bourgeois 1995 – George Rickey 2001 – Richard Serra 2007 – Martin Puryear 2013 – Mark di Suvero 2019 – Lee Bontecou

All winners Source: American Academy of Arts and Letters List of Awards

1909 – Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Sculpture 1910 – James Ford Rhodes, History 1911 – James Whitcomb Riley, Poetry 1912 – William Rutherford Mead, Architecture 1913 – Augustus Thomas, Drama 1914 – John Singer Sargent, Painting 1915 – William Dean Howells, Fiction 1916 – Charles William Eliot, Fiction 1916 – John Burroughs, Belles Lettres 1917 – Daniel Chester French, Sculpture 1918 – William Roscoe Thayer, History 1919 – Charles Martin Loeffler, Music 1921 – Cass Gilbert, Architecture 1922 – Eugene O'Neill, Drama 1923 – Edwin Howland Blashfield, Painting 1924 – Edith Wharton, Fiction 1925 – William Crary Brownell, Belles Lettres 1926 – Herbert Adams, Sculpture 1927 – William M. Sloane, History 1928 – George W. Chadwick, Music 1929 – Edwin Arlington Robinson, Poetry 1930 – Anna Hyatt Huntington, Sculpture 1930 – Charles Adams Platt, Architecture 1931 – William Gillette, Drama 1932 – Gari Melchers, Painting 1933 – Booth Tarkington, Fiction 1935 – Agnes Repplier, Belles Lettres 1936 – George Grey Barnard, Sculpture 1937 – Charles M. Andrews, History 1938 – Walter Damrosch, Music 1939 – Robert Frost, Poetry 1940 – William Adams Delano, Architecture 1941 – Robert E. Sherwood, Drama 1942 – Cecilia Beaux, Painting 1943 – Stephen Vincent Benét, Literature 1944 – Willa Cather, Fiction 1945 – Paul Manship, Sculpture 1946 – Van Wyck Brooks, Essays 1947 – John Alden Carpenter, Music 1948 – Charles Austin Beard, History 1949 – Frederick Law Olmsted, Architecture 1950 – H. L. Mencken, Essays 1950 – John Sloan, Painting 1951 – Igor Stravinsky, Music 1951 – James Earle Fraser, Sculpture 1952 – Carl Sandburg, History 1952 – Thornton Wilder, Fiction 1953 – Frank Lloyd Wright, Architecture 1953 – Marianne Moore, Poetry 1954 – Maxwell Anderson, Drama 1954 – Reginald Marsh, Graphic Art 1955 – Edmund Wilson, Essays 1955 – Edward Hopper, Painting 1956 – Aaron Copland, Music 1956 – Ivan Meštrović, Sculpture 1957 – Allan Nevins, History 1957 – John Dos Passos, Fiction 1958 – Conrad Aiken, Poetry 1958 – Henry R. Shepley, Architecture 1959 – Arthur Miller, Drama 1959 – George Grosz, Graphic Art 1960 – Charles E. Burchfield, Painting 1960 – E. B. White, Essays 1961 – Roger H. Sessions, Music 1961 – William Zorach, Sculpture 1962 – Samuel Eliot Morison, History 1962 – William Faulkner, Fiction 1963 – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Architecture 1963 – William Carlos Williams, Poetry 1964 – Ben Shahn, Graphic Art 1964 – Lillian Hellman, Drama 1965 – Walter Lippmann, Essays 1965 – Wyeth, Painting 1966 – Jacques Lipchitz, Sculpture 1966 – Virgil Thomson, Music 1967 – Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., History 1967 – Katherine Anne Porter, Fiction 1968 – R. Buckminster Fuller, Architecture 1968 – W. H. Auden, Poetry 1969 – Leonard Baskin, Graphic Art 1969 – Tennessee Williams, Drama 1970 – Georgia O'Keeffe, Painting 1970 – Lewis Mumford, Belles Lettres 1971 – Alexander Calder, Sculpture 1971 – Elliott Carter, Music 1972 – Eudora Welty, Novel 1972 – Henry Steele Commager, History 1973 – John Crowe Ransom, Poetry 1973 – Louis I. Kahn, Architecture 1974 – Saul Steinberg, Graphic Art 1975 – Kenneth Burke, Belles Lettres 1975 – Willem de Kooning, Painting 1976 – Leon Edel, Biography 1976 – Samuel Barber, Music 1977 – Isamu Noguchi, Sculpture 1977 – Saul Bellow, Novel 1978 – Barbara W. Tuchman, History 1978 – Peter Taylor, Short Story 1979 – Archibald MacLeish, Poetry 1979 – I. M. Pei, Architecture 1980 – Edward Albee, Drama 1980 – Peggy Bacon, Graphic Art 1981 – Malcolm Cowley, Belles Lettres 1981 – Raphael Soyer, Painting 1982 – Francis Steegmuller, Biography 1982 – William Schuman, Music 1983 – Bernard Malamud, Fiction 1983 – Louise Nevelson, Sculpture 1984 – George F. Kennan, History 1984 – Gordon Bunshaft, Architecture 1985 – Leonard Bernstein, Music 1985 – Robert Penn Warren, Poetry 1986 – Jasper Johns, Graphic Art 1986 – Sidney Kingsley, Drama 1987 – Isabel Bishop, Painting 1987 – Jacques Barzun, Belles Lettres 1988 – James Thomas Flexner, Biography 1988 – Milton Babbitt, Music 1989 – Isaac Bashevis Singer, Fiction 1989 – Louise Bourgeois, Sculpture 1990 – C. Vann Woodward, History 1991 – David Diamond, Music 1991 – Richard Wilbur, Poetry 1992 – David Levine, Graphic Art 1992 – Sam Shepard, Drama 1993 – Elizabeth Hardwick, Belles Lettres/Criticism 1993 – Richard Diebenkorn, Painting 1994 – Hugo Weisgall, Music 1994 – Walter Jackson Bate, Biography 1995 – George Rickey, Sculpture 1995 – William Maxwell, Fiction 1996 – Peter Gay, History 1996 – Philip Johnson, Architecture 1997 – Gunther Schuller, Music 1997 – John Ashbery, Poetry 1998 – Frank Stella, Graphic Art 1998 – Horton Foote, Drama