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Tomma Abts on Monday became the first female painter in the 22-year history of Britain's Turner Prize to win the controversial modern art award.
Abts, 38, who lives in London but was born in Kiel, northern Germany, was handed the 25,000-pound (37,100-euro, 49,500-dollar) award by artist Yoko Ono, widow of former Beatle John Lennon, at a ceremony in central London.
She was the only non-Briton to be nominated for the award, and was the bookmakers' early favourite for her work, small oil paintings and acrylics that are always presented in the same 48-centimetre by 38-centimetre (19-inch by 15-inch) format.
Abts, who came to Britain 12 years ago from Germany on a grant, starts work with no idea what she will create and allows the canvas to evolve as she paints.
The judges said that Abts's work exhibits no pre-conceived notion of the final result.
According to the judges, her work "gives a kind of depth and illusion to abstraction which you normally find in figurative painting."
"It's not often you find work that has rigour and incredible beauty. Her work is an extraordinary achievement both technically and aesthetically.
"Her project stands quite apart from other painters of her generation," they said.
The painter beat out three British artists -- Phil Collins, Mark Titchner and Rebecca Warren.
Abts said that it was "an honour" to win the award, and added: "I don't know what I'll do with the money but it's very nice."
Collins' works include a film of people talking about how appearing on talk-shows has ruined their lives, while Titchner is noted for his brightly-coloured installations emblazoned with slogans such as "If You Can Dream It, You Must Do It".
Warren's work, which seems less sensationalist than that of the other contenders, include images inspired by Auguste Rodin and Pablo Picasso, paying homage to her heroes "while gently questioning their authority", according to organisers at the Tate Britain gallery.
Critics have argued for years, however, about whether the modern art award that made a star out of British artist Damien Hirst -- one-time enfant terrible known for preserving dead animals in formaldehyde -- puts too much emphasis on hype over talent.
As well as Hirst, who won the Turner in 1995 with pieces including a rotting cow's head complete with maggots and flies, it also made a household name out of Tracey Emin.
She was nominated in 1999 and exhibited what has been dubbed as provocative confessional works, including her notorious "My Bed".
Surrounded by condoms, cigarette butts and stained underwear, the installation showed how her own bed looked after she had spent several days in it following the breakdown of a relationship.
Another infamous Emin piece was "Everyone I Have Ever Slept with 1963-1995" -- a tent on which she stitched the names of all her sexual partners.
The 1998 winner, Chris Ofili, the last painter to win the prize, kept the flag flying for controversy by incorporating elephant dung into all of his works.
By contrast, last year's winner seemed tame, though still eccentric.
Simon Starling's most famous piece is a shed which he found on the banks of the river Rhine, dismantled, sailed downriver and reassembled in a Swiss museum.
The prize is awarded to an artist under-50 and living in Britain, and was established in 1984, though there was no award in 1990.
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AFP 042034 GMT 12 06
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