Hans Arnold (22 April 1925 – 25 October 2010) was an artist, born in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, who lived and worked in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

from 1947 until his death in 2010. He illustrated many magazines and books. He is perhaps best known for his illustrations for the ''

Bland tomtar och troll ''Among Gnomes and Trolls'' (), is a popular Swedish folklore and fairy tales annual and children's fairy tale anthology published since 1907. One of the most noted of the early illustrators is artist John Bauer. Writers and illustrators Fo ...

'' books, and for the cover he did for the

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The group's ...

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' album. In 2019 a feature-length documentary about Hans Arnold was released:
Hans Arnold - Art of the Witchmaster
'.

Background

Arnold was born in

Sursee Sursee is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. Sursee is located at the northern end of Lake Sempach, not far from where the ''Sure'' (or ''Suhre'') river exits the lake ("See"), hence the name "Sursee". ...

. He had a very strict

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

education which included strong beliefs in heaven and hell. As a small boy, Arnold used to play the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

. Arnold began drawing caricatures of his teachers in school and sold them to his friends.

Art career

Arnold moved to Sweden in 1947. He was known in some circles for his horror art, which had a very distinct style. He illustrated short stories in Swedish weekly magazines such as '' VeckoRevyn'' from the 1950s through the 1970s, and in 1967 created '' Matulda och Megasen'', a popular

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, e ...

. He was a frequent guest at

science fiction conventions Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...

, and in later years was involved in efforts to organize the Swedish Horror Academy. In 1995, Arnold created an original artwork piece commissioned by the Swedish rock band

Spiritual Beggars Spiritual Beggars is a stoner metal band from Halmstad, Sweden, formed by Michael Amott, who is known from Arch Enemy, Carcass and Carnage. The band is heavily influenced by 1970s hard rock and incorporates elements of psychedelia into its ...

for their ''Another Way To Shine'' (1996) album. He also made the artwork for the album '' Kalejdoskopiska Aktiviteter'' (1998) by Swedish psychedelic rock band

Qoph Qoph ( Phoenician Qōp ) is the nineteenth letter of the Semitic scripts. Aramaic Qop is derived from the Phoenician letter, and derivations from Aramaic include Hebrew Qof , Syriac Qōp̄ ܩ and Arabic . Its original sound value was a We ...

. His work has been used as cover art on several

Ralph Lundsten Ralph Lundsten (born 6 October 1936) is a Swedish composer of electronic music, as well as a film director, artist and author. He was born and raised in Ersnäs, Norrbotten, in northern Sweden, and now lives in Nacka on the outskirts of Stock ...

albums, and on the 2012 self-titled release by progressive rock band

Storm Corrosion Storm Corrosion was a musical collaboration between Mikael Åkerfeldt of Swedish progressive metal band Opeth and Steven Wilson, an English solo artist and frontman of the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Åkerfeldt and Wilson began a long ...

Other works

*'' Most Beloved Sister'' (illustrations of an

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...

story) *'' I Am a Werewolf Cub'' (illustrations of

Gunnel Linde Gunnel Linde (14 October 1924 – 12 June 2014) was a Swedish writer who has written over forty children's books, among them ''Den vita stenen'' and '' I Am a Werewolf Cub''. In 1971, she was one of the founders of BRIS (''"Barnens rätt i samh� ...

story)

References

External links

Hans Arnold websiteimdb-page for the documentary Hans Arnold - art of the witchmaster
1925 births 2010 deaths Swiss artists Swedish artists Swedish illustrators {{illustrator-stub