The members of the Jury for the 1988 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, Francisco Calvo Seraller, María del Corral López-Dóriga, Luis Gómez Acebo, Duke of Badajoz, Manuel Martín Ferrand, Artur Nobre de Gusmao, Miguel Oriol e Ibarra, Manuel Rivera, Leopoldo Rodés Castané, Luis Ángel Rojo Duque and Miguel Satrústegui, gathered in Oviedo on the 12th and 13th of May, 1988 under the presidency of Antonio Pedrol Ríus and with Manuel Fernández de la Cera acting as secretary, have decided by majority to grant this award to Jorge Oteiza, a singular artist whose fidelity to avant-garde language has defined not only a new and necessary way of thinking of space but also clearly influential ethical attitude.
In his sculpture, his essays on art, aesthetics and anthropology, his poetic work and his constant search for new perspectives for integrating and redefining the arts, Oteiza's life is an example of creative passion.