Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist

"Hugo Award for Best Artist" redirects here. See also Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist.

Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist
Awarded forThe best artist of works devoted primarily to science fiction or fantasy
Presented byWorld Science Fiction Society
First awarded1955
Most recent winnerEnzhe Zhao
Websitethehugoawards.org

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.[1] 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".[2][3]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6]

During the 77 nomination years, 98 artists have been nominated; 26 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, John Picacio with 3 out of 15, 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.

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