In 1992, Günter Grass established the Daniel Chodowiecki Foundation, which aims to promote German-Polish cultural relations by honouring Polish visual artists. The Foundation, based in the Akademie der Künste, awards the Daniel Chodowiecki Prize for Polish Drawing and Graphic Design. The prize winner is selected by an international jury comprising renowned figures from the cultural life in Germany and Poland.

The eponym is the illustrator and etcher Daniel Chodowiecki (1726–1801), who was of Polish and French ancestry, was born in Gdańsk and for a long time held Prussian nationality. He was director of the Royal Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin for many years. He made a name for himself not only as an illustrator, but also as an important figure of the Enlightenment, working at the intersection of tradition and culture of several nations.

The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros.