The Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist is given each year for artists of works related to science fiction or fantasy which appeared in low- or non-paying publications such as semiprozines or

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

s. A Hugo Award for professional artists is also given. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, na ...

" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing". The fan award was first presented in 1967 and has been awarded annually. Beginning in 1996, Retrospective Hugo Awards, or "Retro Hugos", have been available to be awarded for years 50, 75, or 100 years prior in which no awards were given. To date, Retro Hugo awards have been awarded for 1939, 1941, 1943—1946, 1951, and 1954, although only the 1946 and 1951 Retro Hugos received sufficient nominations for the Fan Artist Hugo to make the ballot. Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual

World Science Fiction Convention Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...

, or Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the World Science Fiction Society Constitution as

instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

with six nominees, except in the case of a tie. The works on the ballot are those six most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of works that can be nominated. Initial nominations are made by members in January through March, while voting on the ballot of six nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon is held. Prior to 2017, the final ballot was five works; it was changed that year to six, with each initial nominator limited to five nominations. Worldcons are generally held near

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

and in a different city around the world each year. BradFoster

During the 58 nomination years, 79 artists have been nominated; 32 of these have won, including co-winners and Retro Hugos. Brad W. Foster has received the largest number of awards, with 8 wins out of 27 nominations.

William Rotsler Charles William Rotsler () was an American artist, cartoonist, pornographer and science fiction author. Rotsler was a four-time Hugo Award winner and one-time Nebula Award nominee. Rotsler's papers including dozens of matted color drawings, un ...

and

Tim Kirk Tim Kirk is both a professional artist and an American fan artist. He worked as a senior designer at Tokyo DisneySea, as an Imagineer for the Walt Disney company. He began his professional art career during the mid-1970s as an illustrator at ...

have won five awards, from twenty-three and eight nominations respectively. The only other artists to win more than twice are

Teddy Harvia Teddy Harvia is the pen name of David Thayer, an American science fiction fan artist. "Teddy Harvia" is an anagram of "David Thayer". He was born in Oklahoma but grew up in and resides in Dallas, Texas. , Teddy Harvia has won the Hugo Award ...

, with four out of twenty nominations, Alexis A. Gilliland, with four out of eight, and Frank Wu, also with four out of eight.

Winners and nominees

In the following tables, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony. Artists are eligible based on their work of the previous calendar year. Entries with a blue background and an asterisk (*) next to the artist's name have won the award; those with a white background are the nominees on the short-list. * Winners

Retro Hugos

Beginning with the 1996 Worldcon, the World Science Fiction Society created the concept of "Retro Hugos", in which the Hugo award could be retroactively awarded for 50, 75, or 100 years prior. Retro Hugos may only be awarded for years in which a Worldcon was hosted, but no awards were originally given. Retro Hugos have been awarded eight times, for 1939, 1941, 1943—1946, 1951, and 1954. Only the 1946 and 1951 Retro Hugos received enough nominations for the Fan Artist Hugo to make the ballot.

References

External links

The Hugo Awards official website
{{featured list Visual arts awards Awards established in 1967

Fan Artist Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers to ...