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 fanzines. A Hugo Award for professional artists is also given. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" 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. has received the largest number of awards, with 8 wins out of 27 nominations. During the 56 nomination years, 75 artists have been nominated; 29 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 and Tim Kirk have won five awards, from twenty-three and eight nominations respectively. The only other artists to win more than twice are Teddy Harvia, with four out of twenty nominations, Alexis A. Gilliland, with four out of eight, and Frank Wu, also with four out of eight.
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 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 and in a different cityaround 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
Year
Artist
Ref.
1967
*
1967
1967
1967
1967
1968
*
1968
1968
1968
1968
1969
*
1969
1969
1969
1969
1970
*
1970
1970
1970
1970
1971
*
1971
1971
1971
1971
1972
*
1972
1972
1972
1972
1973
*
1973
1973
1973
1973
1974
*
1974
1974
1974
1974
1975
*
1975
1975
1975
1976
*
1976
1976
1976
1976
1977
*
1977
1977
1977
1977
1978
*
1978
1978
1978
1978
1979
*
1979
1979
1979
1979
1980
*
1980
1980
1980
1980
1980
1981
*
1981
1981
1981
1981
1982
*
1982
1982
1982
1982
1983
*
1983
1983
1983
1983
1984
*
1984
1984
1984
1984
1985
*
1985
1985
1985
1985
1985
1986
*
1986
1986
1986
1986
1987
*
1987
1987
1987
1987
1988
*
1988
1988
1988
1988
1988
1989
*
1989
*
1989
1989
1989
1989
1990
*
1990
1990
1990
1990
1990
1991
*
1991
1991
1991
1991
1992
*
1992
1992
1992
1992
1993
*
1993
1993
1993
1993
1993
1994
*
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
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
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
2012
2013
*
2013
2013
2013
2013
2014
*
2014
2014
2014
2014
2015
*
2015
2015
2015
2015
2016
*
2016
2016
2016
disse86
2016
Kukuruyo
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 WorldScience 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.
