Following WFC 2015, it was announced that henceforth the World Fantasy Awards would not be represented by a bust of horror legend Howard Phillips Lovecraft, commonly abbreviated to Lovecraft or HPL.
Personally, I felt this was the right decision. Even if you don't agree with those who began the movement based on feeling that it was inappropriate to use a known (and admitted) racist as the symbol of one of the most prestigious awards in the SF/F community, the simple fact is that HPL sucked as a selection to represent the World Fantasy Award.
I do not mean to denigrate HPL's contribution to weird tales and existential horror in particular; he is an undoubted founding father of that subgenre, a master of imagery and mood, and his influence is wide-ranging and continuing.
But that form of "fantasy" is a niche, and from a public perception isn't even representative of fantasy.
If you were going to choose a PERSON (I don't think you should, but later on that) to represent fantasy, I think there's only ONE decent choice for that in terms of "who has shaped what the public knows of fantasy": J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, basically the Trope Codifier for Epic Fantasy (which is one of the three default types of fantasy people will tend to think of, and by far the most instantly recognizable). Possibly you could choose three people, one for each of Epic, Sword and Sorcery, and Urban fantasy; in that case it's Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, and, well, I'm not sure which of several people one might choose for Urban Fantasy.
In reality, I don't think the "World Fantasy Award" should be an image of ANY person. It should be something that represents "Fantasy" the same way that "Rocket Ship" represents "Science Fiction" in the Hugo Awards. Thus, a Dragon, perhaps. or a three-figure unit of a great warrior, a wizard, and a dragon. (I can even visualize this award in my head). THIS distills the essential concept of fantasy, in the popular imagination, precisely as a spaceship does for SF.
But in any event, removing HPL as the representative of the World Fantasy Award? The right decision, and I'm glad they've made it. I just hope they choose something cool for the next one!
Your comments or questions welcomed!
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