Academy Award for Best Art Direction

The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999.

1940s

• 1940 Black-and-white Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse - Pride and Prejudice
• Hans Dreier, Robert Usher - Arise, My Love
• Lionel Banks, Robert Peterson - Arizona
• John Otterson - The Boys from Syracuse
• John Victor Mackay - Dark Command
• Alexander Golitzen - Foreign Correspondent
• Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright - Lillian Russell
• Van Nest Polglase, Mark-Lee Kirk - My Favorite Wife
• John DuCasse Schulze - My Son, My Son
• Lewis J. Rachmil - Our Town
• Lyle Wheeler - Rebecca
• Anton Grot - The Sea Hawk
• James Basevi - The Westerner
• 1940 Color Vincent Korda - The Thief of Bagdad
• Cedric Gibbons, John S. Detlie - Bitter Sweet
• Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright - Down Argentine Way
• Hans Dreier, Roland Anderson - North West Mounted Police
• 1941 Black-and-White Richard Day, Nathan Juran, Thomas Little - How Green Was My Valley
• Perry Ferguson, Van Nest Polglase, Al Fields, Darrell Silvera - Citizen Kane
• Martin Obzina, Jack Otterson, Russell A. Gausman - Flame of New Orleans
• Hans Dreier, Robert Usher, Samuel M. Comer - Hold Back the Dawn
• Lionel Banks, George Montgomery - Ladies in Retirement
• Stephen Goosson, Howard Bristol - The Little Foxes
• John Hughes, Fred MacLean - Sergeant York
• John DuCasse Schultze, Edward G. Boyle - Son of Monte Cristo
• Alexander Golitzen, Richard Irvine - Sundown
• Vincent Korda, Julia Heron - That Hamilton Woman
• Cedric Gibbons, Randall Duell, Edwin B. Willis - When Ladies Meet
• 1941 Color Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, Edwin B. Willis - Blossoms in the Dust
• Richard Day, Joseph C. Wright, Thomas Little - Blood and Sand
• Raoul Pene du Bois, Stephen A. Seymour - Louisiana Purchase
• 1942 Black-and-White Richard Day, Joseph Wright, Thomas Little - This Above All
• Max Parker, Mark-Lee Kirk, Casey Roberts - George Washington Slept Here
• Albert S. D'Agostino, Al Fields, Darrell Silvera - The Magnificent Ambersons
• Perry Ferguson, Howard Bristol - The Pride of the Yankees
• Cedric Gibbons, Randall Duell, Edwin B. Willis, Jack Moore - Random Harvest
• Boris Leven - The Shanghai Gesture
• Ralph Berger, Emile Kuri - Silver Queen
• John B. Goodman, Jack Otterson, Russell A. Gausman, Edward R. Robinson - The Spoilers
• Hans Dreier, Roland Anderson, Samuel M. Comer - Take a Letter, Darling
• Lionel Banks, Rudolph Sternad, Fay Babcock - The Talk of the Town
• 1942 Color Richard Day, Joseph Wright, Thomas Little - My Gal Sal
• Alexander Golitzen, Jack Otterson, Russell A. Gausman, Ira S. Webb - Arabian Nights
• Ted Smith, Casey Roberts - Captains of the Clouds
• Vincent Korda, Julia Heron - Jungle Book
• Hans Dreier, Roland Anderson, George Sawley - Reap the Wild Wind
• 1943 Black-and-White James Basevi, William Darling, Thomas Little - The Song of Bernadette
• Hans Dreier, Ernst Fegte, Bertram Granger - Five Graves to Cairo
• Albert S. D'Agostino, Carroll Clark, Darrell Silvera, Harley Miller - Flight for Freedom
• Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis, Hugh Hunt - Madame Curie
• Carl Weyl, George J. Hopkins - Mission to Moscow
• Perry Ferguson, Howard Bristol - The North Star
• 1943 Color Alexander Golitzen, John B. Goodman, Russell A. Gausman, Ira S. Webb - Phantom of the Opera
• Hans Dreier, Haldane Douglas, Bertram Granger - For Whom the Bell Tolls
• James Basevi, Joseph C. Wright, Thomas Little - The Gang's All Here
• John Hughes, John Koenig, George J. Hopkins - This Is the Army
• Cedric Gibbons, Daniel Cathcart, Edwin B. Willis, Jacques Mersereau - Thousands Cheer
• 1944 Black-and-White Cedric Gibbons, William Ferrari, Paul Huldschinsky, Edwin B. Willis - Gaslight
• Lionel Banks, Walter Holscher, Joseph Kish - Address Unknown
• John J. Hughes, Fred MacLean - The Adventures of Mark Twain
• Perry Ferguson, Julia Heron - Casanova Brown
• Lyle Wheeler, Leland Fuller, Thomas Little - Laura
• Hans Dreier, Robert Usher, Samuel M. Comer - No Time for Love
• Mark-Lee Kirk, Victor A. Gangelin - Since You Went Away
• Albert S. D'Agostino, Carroll Clark, Darrell Silvera, Claude Carpenter - Step Lively
• 1944 Color Wiard Ihnen, Thomas Little - Wilson
• John B. Goodman, Alexander Golitzen, Russell A. Gausman, Ira S. Webb - The Climax
• Lionel Banks, Cary Odell, Fay Babcodk - Cover Girl
• Charles Novi, Jack McConaghy - The Desert Song
• Cedric Gibbons, Daniel B. Cathcart, Edwin B. Willis, Richard Pefferle - Kismet
• Hans Dreier, Raoul Pene du Bois, Ray Moyer - Lady in the Dark
• Ernst Fegte, Howard Bristol - The Princess and the Pirate
• 1945 Black-and-White Wiard Ihnen, A. Roland Fields - Blood on the Sun
• Albert S. D'Agostino, Jack Okey, Darrell Silvera, Claude Carpenter - Experiment Perilous
• James Basevi, William Darling, Thomas Little, Frank E. Hughes - The Keys of the Kingdom
• Hans Dreier, Roland Anderson, Samuel M. Comer, Ray Moyer - Love Letters
• Cedric Gibbons, Hans Peters, Edwin B. Willis, John Bonar, Hugh Hunt - The Picture of Dorian Gray
• 1945 Color Hans Dreier, Ernst Fegte, Samuel M. Comer - Frenchman's Creek
• Lyle Wheeler, Maurice Ransford, Thomas Little - Leave Her to Heaven
• Cedric Gibbons, Urie McCleary, Edwin B. Willis, Mildred Griffiths - National Velvet
• Ted Smith, Jack McConaghy - San Antonio
• Stephen Goosson, Rudolph Sternad, Frank Tuttle - A Thousand and One Nights
• 1946 Black-and-White William Darling, Lyle Wheeler, Thomas Little, Frank E. Hughes - Anna and the King of Siam
• Hans Dreier, Walter Tyler, Samuel M. Comer, Ray Moyer - Kitty
• Richard Day, Nathan Juran, Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox - The Razor's Edge
• 1946 Color Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis - The Yearling
• John Bryan - Caesar and Cleopatra
• Paul Sheriff, Carmen Dillon - Henry V

Beginning with 1947 movies the name of the award was changed to Art Direction - Set Decoration.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• 1947 Black-and-White John Bryan, Wilfred Shingleton - Great Expectations
• Lyle Wheeler, Maurice Ransford, Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox - The Foxes of Harrow
• 1947 Color Alfred Junge - Black Narcissus
• Robert M. Haas, George James Hopkins - Life with Father
• 1948 Black-and-White Roger K. Furse, Carmen Dillon - Hamlet
• Robert Haas, William Wallace - Johnny Belinda
• 1948 Color Hein Heckroth, Arthur Lawson - The Red Shoes
• Richard Day, Edwin Casey Roberts, Joseph Kish - Joan of Arc
• 1949 Black-and-White Harry Horner, John Meehan, Emile Kuri - The Heiress
• Lyle Wheeler, Joseph C. Wright, Thomas Little, Paul S. Fox - Come to the Stable
• Cedric Gibbons, Jack Martin Smith, Edwin B. Willis, Richard A. Pefferle - Madame Bovary
• 1949 Color Cedric Gibbons, Paul Groesse, Edwin B. Willis, Jack D. Moore - Little Women
• Edward Carrere, Lyle Reifsnider - Adventures of Don Juan
• Jim Morahan, William Kellner, Michael Relph - Saraband for Dead Lovers