Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist


The Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist is given each year for artists of works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. The award has been given annually under several names since 1955, with the exception of 1957. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".
The inaugural 1953 Hugo awards recognized "Best Interior Illustrator" and "Best Cover Artist" categories, awarded to Virgil Finlay and a tie between Hannes Bok and Ed Emshwiller, respectively. The Best Professional Artist award was simply named "Best Artist" in 1955 and 1956, was not awarded in 1957, and was named "Outstanding Artist" in 1958, finally changing to its current name the following year. 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, and in each case an award for professional artist was given.
During the 73 nomination years, 88 artists have been nominated; 24 of these have won, including co-winners and Retro Hugos. Michael Whelan has received the most awards, with 13 wins out of 24 nominations. Frank Kelly Freas has 11 wins and 28 nominations, the most nominations of any artist. Other artists with large numbers of wins or nominations include Bob Eggleton with 8 wins out of 23 nominations, Virgil Finlay with 5 out of 14, Ed Emshwiller with 4 out of 9, and Don Maitz with 2 out of 17. David A. Cherry and Thomas Canty are tied for the most nominations without an award at 10 each.

Selection

Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, 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 with six nominees, except in the case of a tie. The works on the ballot are the six most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of works that can be nominated. The awards in 1955 and 1958 did not include any recognition of runner-up artists, but since 1959 all six candidates have been recorded. 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, and in a different city around the world each year.

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
YearArtistRef.
1955*
1956*
1956
1956
1956
1956
1956
1958*
1959*
1959
1959
1959
1959
1960*
1960
1960
1960
1960
1961*
1961
1961
1961
1962*
1962
1962
1962
1962
1963*
1963
1963
1963
1963
1964*
1964
1964
1964
1964
1965*
1965
1965
1965
1966*
1966
1966
1966
1966
1967*
1967
1967
1967
1968*
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
1969*
1969
1969 and Diane Dillon
1969
1970*
1970 and Diane Dillon
1970
1970
1970
1971 and Diane Dillon*
1971
1971
1971
1971
1972*
1972
1972
1972
1972
1973*
1973
1973
1973
1973
1974*
1974
1974
1974
1974
1975*
1975
1975
1975
1975
1976*
1976
1976
1976
1976
1977*
1977
1977
1977
1978*
1978
1978
1978
1978
1979*
1979
1979
1979
1979
1980*
1980
1980
1980
1980
1981*
1981
1981
1981
1981
1982*
1982
1982
1982
1982
1983*
1983
1983
1983
1983
1983
1984*
1984
1984
1984
1984
1985*
1985
1985
1985
1985
1986*
1986
1986
1986
1986
1987*
1987
1987
1987
1987
1987
1988*
1988
1988
1988
1988
1988
1989*
1989
1989
1989
1989
1989
1990*
1990
1990
1990
1990
1990
1990
1991*
1991
1991
1991
1991
1992*
1992
1992
1992
1992
1993*
1993
1993
1993
1993
1994*
1994
1994
1994
1994
1995*
1995
1995
1995
1995
1996*
1996
1996
1996
1996
1997*
1997
1997
1997
1997
1998*
1998
1998
1998
1998
1998
1999*
1999
1999
1999
1999
1999
2000*
2000
2000
2000
2000
2001*
2001
2001
2001
2001
2002*
2002
2002
2002
2002
2003*
2003
2003
2003
2003
2004*
2004
2004
2004
2004
2005*
2005
2005
2005
2005
2006*
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2007*
2007
2007
2007
2007
2008*
2008
2008
2008
2008
2009*
2009
2009
2009
2009
2010*
2010
2010
2010
2010
2011*
2011
2011
2011
2011
2012*
2012
2012
2012
2012
2013*
2013
2013
2013
2013
2014*
2014
2014
2014
2014
2014
2015*
2015
2015
2015
2015
2016*
2016
2016
2016
2016
2017*
2017
2017
2017
2017
2017
2018*
2018
2018
2018
2018
2018
2019*
2019
2019
2019
2019
2019
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020
2020

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.
YearYear awardedArtistRef
19392014*
19392014
19392014
19392014
19392014
19412016*
19412016
19412016
19412016
19412016
19412016
19432018*
19432018
19432018
19432018
19432018
19432018
19442019*
19442019
19442019
19442019
19442019
19442019
19452020
19452020
19452020
19452020
19452020
19452020
19461996*
19461996
19461996
19461996
19461996
19512001*
19512001
19512001
19512001
19512001
19542004*
19542004
19542004
19542004
19542004