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 science fiction convention, 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 sh ...

for the best

fantasy fiction Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

and

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as a "prestigious fantasy prize", and one of the three most renowned

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

awards, along with the Hugo and

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), a nonprofit association of pr ...

s (which cover both fantasy and

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

). 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 50 nomination years, 104 artists have been nominated; 42 of them have won, including ties. Three artists have won three times: Shaun Tan, out of five nominations; Charles Vess, out of eight; and

Michael Whelan Michael Whelan (born June 29, 1950) is an Americans, American artist of imaginative Realism (arts), 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 ...

, out of nine. Six other artists have won twice: J. K. Potter, out of ten nominations; Thomas Canty, out of nine; Kinuko Y. Craft, out of seven;

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

, out of four; Rovina Cai, out of three; and

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 ...

, both times he was nominated. No other artists have won more than once. Potter and John Picacio have received the most nominations at ten, followed by Canty, Don Maitz, and Whelan at nine each. Stephen Fabian and John Jude Palencar 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 yellow background and an asterisk (*) next to the artist's name have won the award; the other entries are the other nominees on the shortlist. * Winners

References

External links

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

Artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...