Hans Arnold, 1925-2010.

The Swiss-Swedish artist and illustrator Hans Arnold has passed away. Known in particular for his illustrations of books — like the 1973 re-issue of Astrid Lindgren's Allrakäraste syster (Most Beloved Sister), Gunnel Linde's Jag är en varulvsunge (I am a Werewolf Cub), and Bland tomtar och troll ("Among Gnomes and Trolls", a popular folklore and fairy tale annual) — animated films like Matulda och megasen, and the Gothic horror sleeve of ABBA's Greatest Hits, Arnold's unique blend of erotic and mildly horrific themes ensured him a status as "cult" artist.

Born in Sursee, Switzerland, Arnold's first artistic endeavours included crafting caricatures of particularly draconian school teachers, which he'd peddle among his class mates. Having completed his artistic education at the Hochschule Luzern (the Lucerne School of Art and Design, Switerland's oldest arts school), Arnold spent a couple of years in Paris, before moving to Sweden in 1947. His intricate style, rich in detail, often referenced the text his illustrations complemented in such a way that they practically became puzzles in themselves.

Arnold's weekly visual contribution to the magazine VeckoRevyn ("Weekly Review"), which appeaered regularly between 1954 and 1979 under the heading "veckans chock" ("the weekly shock"), made him a household name in Sweden. Despite more recently fading from public view, his dense fusion of surrealism and underground art inspired a broad range of artists in a variety of fields. Examples of his work, as well as images from one of Arnold's last retrospectives, can be seen here.

Omar Rayo, 1928-2010.

Colombian painter and plastic artist Omar Rayo has passed away. Primarily active in optical art (Op art), Rayo — the winner of the 1970 Salón de Artistas Colombianos (Salon of Colombian Artists) — was perhaps best known for his works employing abstract geometry. Having begun his career as a caricaturist, Reyo completed his artistic studies via correspondence with the Academia Zaer of Buenos Aires.

Some 2,000 of Rayo's works (examples can also be viewed here) are on permanent display at the Museo Rayo de Dibujo y Grabado Latinoamericano in his hometown of Roldanillo, a facility inspired by Mayan architecture — designed by Mexican artist Leopoldo Gout — which also houses some 500 works by other Latin American artists. Since opening in 1981, the Museo Rayo has become an important cultural centre for the exhibition and study (of engraving in particular) of Latin American art.

Ingrid Segerstedt-Wiberg, 1911-2010.

The Swedish humanist, journalist, and politician Ingrid Segerstedt-Wiberg has passed away. She was the daughter of Torgny Segersted (1876-1945), editor-in-chief of Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning (a Gothenburg daily), and one of the most vocal opponents of Nazism and fascism prior to and during the Second World War — a time when those ideologies were quite popular in Sweden.

As early as 1934, Segerstedt-Wiberg helped organise a committee to aid Jewish refugee children who arrived in Sweden on their own, establishing an orphanage on Viktoriagatan in Göteborg. After the war she continued to work with refugees, chaired the Swedish section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, as well as UNA-Sweden, and was a member of the Swedish UNICEF National Committee.

Segerestedt-Wiberg also worked as an editor (1949-1953), and publisher (1968-1973), for the magazine Världshorisont, Göteborgs-Tidningen (a Gothenburg tabloid) between 1949 and 1955, and finally Göteborgs-Posten — where she served as assistant editor between 1969 and 1976. A indefatigable activist, Segerstedt-Wiberg was Sweden's first female editorialist, and authored some fifteen books.

As a representative for Folkpartiet (Liberal People's Party), Segerstedt-Wiberg was elected member of parliament between 1958 and 1970, leaving the party in 1999 following its decision to endorse Swedish NATO membership. Throughout her life, she remained a strident, vocal challenger of the xenophobia far too prevalent in Swedish society.

Bruno Gironcoli, 1936-2010.

Austrian modernist sculptor Bruno Gironcoli has passed away. Trained as a gold- and silversmith, Gironcoli was perhaps best known for his "apparatuses", large, machinelike objects of polyester, aluminum, or bronze.

Holding a professorship at Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts since 1977 not only gave Gironcoli access to large ateliers in which to create his sizable, complex creations, but also the ability to work independently of the art market.

Awarded the Grand Austrian State Prize in 1993 and the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art in 1997, examples of Girancoli's work can be seen here.