The Dutch Culture Minister, Dr Jet Bussemaker, has selected film director and visual artist Steve McQueen as the recipient of this year’s Johannes Vermeer Award, the Dutch annual state prize for the arts.

The jury, chaired by Ernst Hirsch Ballin, unanimously nominated McQueen for his profound and enduring examination of the human condition in his film and video works, which often depict people struggling to preserve their dignity in circumstances of repression.