The Spectrum Award for Grand Master was awarded annually from 1995 to 2019 by the Spectrum Fantastic Art Advisory Board, which now appears to be defunct. The award is commemorated in the periodic volumes of Spectrum: The Best In Contemporary Fantastic Art, along with other awards, award nominees, artist biographies, and a collection of their art.
A Grand Master, as Arnie Fenner (SFA Advisory Board member) has explained, is an artist who has worked for at least twenty years at a consistently high level of quality; who has influenced and inspired other artists; and who has left his or her mark on the field as a whole. "Craft alone" he writes, " is not sufficient to receive the honor: There are many painters who produce solid professional work. But (and this is the key) it fails to resonate. It is admired in the moment and immediately forgotten. A Grand Master's art, on the other hand, gets stuck in the viewer's heart and memory.
Arnie Fenner also states "At the time of the designation is given the artist must be living. Recently, two GM honorees died prior to the announcement --Al Williamson and Ralph McQuarrie-- which confused a few people, but...both were still with us when the Board bestowed the honor."
Winners Year Grand Master Spectrum Volume RefAwarded At2020Terryl WhitlatchSpectrum 27 2019Donato GiancolaSpectrum 26Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 6 - Kansas City, MO2018Claire WendlingSpectrum 25Brookledge Theater - Los Angeles, CA2017Bill SienkiewiczSpectrum 24Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 5 - Kansas City, MO2016Mike MignolaSpectrum 23Society of Illustrators - New York City, NY2015Scott GustafsonSpectrum 22Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 4 - Kansas City, MO2014 Iain McCaigSpectrum 21Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 3 - Kansas City, MO2013Gerald BromSpectrum 20Spectrum Fantastic Art Live 2 - Kansas City, MO2012James GurneySpectrum 19Spectrum Fantastic Art Live - Kansas City, MO2011Ralph McQuarrieSpectrum 182010Al WilliamsonSpectrum 172009Richard CorbenSpectrum 162008John Jude PalencarSpectrum 152007Syd MeadSpectrum 142006Jeffrey JonesSpectrum 132005H. R. GigerSpectrum 122004Michael WhelanSpectrum 112003Michael William KalutaSpectrum 102002Kinuko Y. CraftSpectrum 92001Jean GiraudSpectrum 82000Alan LeeSpectrum 71999John BerkeySpectrum 61998James BamaSpectrum 51997Diane Dillon & Leo Dillon Spectrum 41996Don Ivan PunchatzSpectrum 31995Frank FrazettaSpectrum 21994No AwardSpectrum 1
See also Spectrum: The Best In Contemporary Fantastic Art
References