ZURICH—The Roswitha Haftmann Foundation has named Vija Celmins the winner of its 2009 Roswitha Haftmann prize.

The Latvia-born, New York–based artist "has a masterly and uncanny way of exploiting widely differing artistic media to the utmost advantage for her creative purposes," wrote the prize's jury. Though included in few European collections, her work has been shown in exhibitions worldwide, including solo shows at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, the Centre Pompidou, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1997 she won the prestigious John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship.

The prize, which, at 150,000 Swiss francs ($139,000), is Europe's highest, was established in 2001 and is awarded every one to three years to a living artist. Previous winners include Maria Lassnig, Mona Hatoum, Jeff Wall, Douglas Gordon, and the Swiss duo Fischli and Weiss. Celmins will be presented with the prize at a ceremony in May 2009.