GW Reveals Their Best Warhammer Art of the Last 40 Years

By Travis Pasch | November 5th, 2023 | Categories: 40k News & Articles, Age of Sigmar, Games Workshop, Tabletop Gaming News & Rumors, Warhammer Community

There has been a ton of amazing Warhammer art over the last four decades, but Games Workshop revealed their best of the last 40 years!

Considering this is the 40th anniversary of Warhammer, it only makes sense to look back at the insane art. The art has really helped grow the game, and if you’ve been playing for any amount of time, you probably have a favorite piece!

We’ve also seen the best Games Workshop miniatures of the last 40 years, but let’s jump into the art!

Games Workshop Reveals Their Best Warhammer Art of the Last 40 Years

The best art of the last 40 years is from Warhammer Community.

Much like the painting styles of the miniatures themselves, Warhammer art is emblematic of distinct eras. Early army books, Codexes, and boxed sets were radiant with colour and character – like the cover art from the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

Some of the old-school fantasy art is so amazing and really got a lot of people into the hobby!

The Blood Angels took centre-stage on the cover of the second edition Warhammer 40,000 boxed set – similarly vibrant, and painted by John Blanche. Other pieces like Dave Gallagher’s cover of Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War popped thanks to the striking composition and prominent primary colours.

If you remember (or have seen) the 2nd Edition 40k box, it is about as iconic as it gets, and you couldn’t leave it out of the list.

John Blanche Art

One of the most memorable Warhammer 40,000 pieces remains John Blanche’s image of the immortal God-Emperor of Humanity, sat atop the life-sustaining Golden Throne. Or, rumour has it, merely a macabre facade for gullible pilgrims to Holy Terra, concealing the true arcane workings of the Emperor’s gruesome existence. There have been many versions of this image over the years, but the first sepia-tinted fusion of the ornate and the macabre is perhaps the most iconic.

There are few artists more iconic than John, and his work really helped shape the true grimdark feel of the game.

The Emperor of Mankind Art

The Emperor is – unsurprisingly – the subject of many of the most eye-catching pieces, and we got an early glimpse of the Master of Mankind in his duel with Horus, captured by Adrian Smith. The dual is so momentous in the Warhamer mythos that several different interpretations exist, like the version painted by Neil Roberts for the cover of Visions of Heresy.

Well, considering much of the story revolves around him, it only makes sense there is so much amazing art about him!

Early Codexes

That’s not to say that all of the art was doom and gloom. Codex: Eldar inspired a whole generation of xenos fans with an intricately detailed pandaemonium of colour by Geoff Taylor, matching rich blues with vibrant yellows. Taylor produced many stone-cold classics for the era, his signature legs-akimbo pose cementing the era of “Herohammer”.

If you played any of these armies back in the day, just looking at the codex cover was part of the fun!

Best Warhammer Art- Wayne England

Wayne England was another mainstay of this period, with his distinctive saturated style with exaggerated heads and hands.

These were always over the top, and who doesn’t love that when thinking about Warhammer?

Karl Kopinski

Karl Kopinski took up the baton slightly later, producing dozens of iconic images in a gritty, detail-packed style that would illustrate a new generation of Warhammer in the 2000s. You’ll find his work on everything from book covers, to artwork for miniature boxes, to eye-catching sketches that populated the corners and columns of codexes and army books.

It really felt like his work moved the game into a new generation, and so much of his work is amazing! You’ve probably seen tons of his work, and GW even based the new Warhammer+ miniature on his iconic artwork.

Alex Boyd

Alex Boyd meanwhile produced many covers for codexes and Warhammer Armies books. His duel between Valten and Archaon remains one of the most recognisable scenes from Warhammer Fantasy Battle – even if it’s missing a certain Grimgor Ironhide clobbering his way in to steal the victory.

These older army books always had amazing artwork that really got you ready to crush your enemies!

The Rise of AoS

While much of the artwork remained dark and moody, especially as the End Times spelled doom for the Old World, the rise of Warhammer Age of Sigmar was mirrored in a gleaming new aesthetic. The first boxed set cover practically beamed with light reflected from the Stormcast Eternals’ golden armour, and Raymond Swanland’s highly contrasted style soon found its way to Warhammer 40,000 in the striking covers for 6th and 7th edition Codexes.

Of particular note is the Stormcast Eternals Liberator by Alessandro Baldasseroni, which set a high bar for Warhammer Age of Sigmar portraits.

While the 6th and 7th editions weren’t the best of times for 40k, the artwork was still amazing and really brought the flavor into a completely different feel. Then, with AoS coming out, there was plenty of art to be done for the game.

Bringing it to the Modern Day

Warhammer Age of Sigmar brought with it a huge amount of inventive art to convey the character of the newly-formed Mortal Realms. Kevin Chin captured the blazing heart of a magmahold, while Catherine O’Connor’s depiction of Nagash’s court oozed the cold gloom of the Nighthaunt, and Mark Holmes’s chaotic moonlit battle scene encapsulated the madness of the Gloomspite Gitz.

There is so much amazing artwork out there for AoS that really sets the crazy world of the game.

The modern day continues to shower us with incredible art, like the awe-inspiring coronation of Roboute Guilliman, with many of the most important figures from recent Warhammer 40,000 history in attendance. In an age of plunging doom for the Imperium – split in half by the Great Rift – this majestic illustration by Pedro Nunez carries a hint of the hope that must have been felt following the return of a real, living Primarch.

There you have it: 40 years of amazing art, and more is coming every year, and we’re here for it!