James Rizzi Dead: US Pop Artist Dies Aged 61 (Pictures)

Brooklyn-born US pop artist James Rizzi has died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 61.

The artist, best known for his bright, cartoon-like drawings and 3D designs, created the cover for the first album of the band Tom Tom Club and was the official artist for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

He also designed the Happy Rizzi House – an office building in Germany, three versions of the New Beetle for Volkswagen and the front page of a Hamburg newspaper.

Alexander Lieventhal, of Art 28 GmbH & Co in Stuttgart, Germany, which buys and sells Rizzi’s work, said he had suffered a heart condition and had died on Monday.

He said: "With his art, what you see is what you get.

“Any child can look at it and understand what he’s trying to convey, a celebration of life.”