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The earliest surviving tarot decks
date from mid-fifteenth century
Italy. The word tarot
comes (via French) from the Italian
word tarocco. Tarot
cards were originally used for
playing card games. In the
18th
century people in France and Italy
began to use them to divine fortunes. |
The Moon |
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Death |
Nowadays there is an incredible
variety of
tarot decks available, ranging from
modern theme-based ones to
reproductions of historical packs.
Many artists have been inspired to
produce tarot-related art, either as
actual decks or as works inspired by
tarot imagery. The French
artist Niki de Saint Phalle
(1930-2002) even created an entire
sculpture garden based upon the 22
cards known as the major arcana.
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In recent years collage has become
an increasingly popular medium for
making tarot cards. Yet there were fine artists
interpreting tarot imagery with the
cut paper medium years before that.
The California-based Jess (1923-2004)
was pasting together large-scale
collage interpretations of tarot
cards in the 1950’s and 60’s.
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The High
Priestess |
| I, too, have felt the tug of
fascination for tarot imagery, and
have been playing around with cards of my own,
illustrated here. |
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The Tower |
The High Priest |
The Hermit |
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Strength
(Click for detail) |
The Devil |
Temperance |
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Queen of Wands |
Page of Wands
(Click for detail) |
Seven of Wands |
King of Swords |
Queen of Swords |
Page of Swords |
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Queen of Disks |
Page of Disks |
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