The winner of the coveted Grand Prix award at the XXXVIII FIDEM MÜNICH 2025 (Fédération Internationale de la Médaille d’Art), was American medalist Jim Licaretz. Licaretz is only the second American to win since the Grand Prix was established in 1992.

According to the FIDEM website, “Jim Licaretz’s work Autoritratto di Fantasia presented a strong design that directly addressed the subject. The title of the medal perfectly captures the key to its meaning. In this excellent self-portrait, the face looks into the distance while the brain focuses on fantasy and recalls the past. The ring forms a circle that contains the idea and creates a private space for the imagination. A range of fantasies, memories, and influences is suggested by the small panels springing from the head — antiquity, literature, music, mystery. The medal was beautifully modelled, cast, and patinated, representing a perfect marriage of innovation and traditional values.”

The artist himself describes the medal in the exhibition catalogue as: “Thinking about medals I have made over the last few years.” Licaretz goes on to describe the medals pictured above his exploded head as “Paul Auster, esteemed Jewish author and filmmaker, Leonard Bernstein, a great Jewish composer, and at the top right, a piece called Momento Mori – female nude with skulls. At the lower left is a medal of Akhenaten, a rather infamous Egyptian Pharoah.”

The self-standing 4 x 4 x 1-inch bonded bronze Autoritratto di Fantasia medal can be ordered for $125 by contacting jimlicaretz@gmail.com.

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