The

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

s are given each year by the

World Fantasy Convention The World Fantasy Convention is an annual convention of professionals, collectors, and others interested in the field of fantasy. The World Fantasy Awards are presented at the event. Other features include an art show, a dealer's room, and an ...

for the best

fantasy fiction Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and dra ...

and

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

published during the preceding calendar year. The awards have been described by sources such as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most renowned speculative fiction awards, along with the

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

and Nebula Awards (which cover both fantasy and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

). The World Fantasy Award—Artist is given each year to artists of works related to fantasy released in the preceding calendar year. Fantasy artists are also eligible for the Special Award—Professional category. The Artist category has been awarded annually since 1975. World Fantasy Award nominees and winners are decided by attendees and judges at the annual World Fantasy Convention. A ballot is posted in June for attendees of the current and previous two conferences to determine two of the finalists, and a panel of five judges adds three or more nominees before voting on the overall winner. The panel of judges is typically made up of fantasy authors and is chosen each year by the World Fantasy Awards Administration, which has the power to break ties. The final results are presented at the World Fantasy Convention at the end of October. Winners were presented with a statue in the form of a bust of H. P. Lovecraft through the 2015 awards; more recent winners receive a statuette of a tree. During the 48 nomination years, 99 artists have been nominated; 41 of them have won, including ties. Three artists have won three times:

Shaun Tan Shaun Tan (born 1973) is an Australian artist, writer and film maker. He won an Academy Award for '' The Lost Thing'', a 2011 animated film adaptation of a 2000 picture book he wrote and illustrated. Other books he has written and illustrated inc ...

, out of five nominations;

Charles Vess Charles Vess (born June 10, 1951) is an American fantasy artist and comics artist who has specialized in the illustration of myths and fairy tales. His influences include British "Golden Age" book illustrator Arthur Rackham, Czech Art Nouveau ...

, out of eight; and

Michael Whelan Michael Whelan (born 29 June 1950) is an American artist of imaginative realism. For more than 30 years, he worked as an illustrator, specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. Since the mid-1990s, he has pursued a fine art career, ...

, out of nine. Five other artists have won twice: Thomas Canty, out of nine nominations;

Lee Brown Coye Lee Brown Coye (July 24, 1907 – September 5, 1981) was an American artist. Coye is probably best remembered for his black-and-white illustrations for pulp magazines and horror fiction, but he produced a variety of works in other media. Biogra ...

and Rovina Cai, both times they were nominated;

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other writers. Hi ...

, out of four; and J. K. Potter, out of ten. No other artists have won more than once. Potter and

John Picacio John Picacio (born September 3, 1969) is an American artist specializing in science fiction, fantasy and horror illustration. Biography Picacio was born on September 3, 1969, in San Antonio, Texas.

have received the most nominations at ten, followed by Canty,

Don Maitz Don Maitz (born June 10, 1953) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and commercial artist. He has twice won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist, science fiction's highest honor for an artist. His peers in the Association of Science ...

, and Whelan at nine each. Stephen Fabian and

John Jude Palencar John Jude Palencar (born February 26, 1957) is an American illustrator and fine artist, who specializes in works of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. In 2010, he was given the Hamilton King Award. His highly detailed work is described as co ...

are tied at eight for the most nominations without winning.

Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the artist's work was published. 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 other nominees on the shortlist. * Winners

References

External links

World Fantasy Convention official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Fantasy Award-Artist Visual arts awards Awards established in 1975 Artist