Art of the Tarot

For centuries, artists have been inspired by the rich imagery of the Tarot. Though proto-Tarot decks were in use as playing cards as early as the 1400s, they weren’t used for divination until  the late 1700s.

After all this time, the Tarot still holds a vital place in the realm of self-knowledge and self-help…plus, it’s gorgeous. If you really want to develop your own expressive toolkit, you can’t go wrong with creating your own Tarot deck.

Here are some contemporary artists’ interpretations.

Above is a drawing from Elisa Seitzinger’s Minor Arcana project, complete with accompanying wall art and custom table. See the whole thing here on Creative Boom.

 

Artist Stasia Burrington of Seattle created this custom deck on commission. Stasia talks about her process and materials, which include watercolor, inks, and gold foil.

 

This video on Milanese Tarot master Osvaldo Menegazzi comes from Great Big Story. (We love Great Big Story around here. Love love love.)

 

These images are taken from the Light Grey Tarot project, a collaborative effort that features artwork from a wide range of contemporary illustrators. Each card was commissioned from a different artist. These are by Romain Mennetrier (left, The Moon) and Bill Rebholz (right, The Fool.)

 

This collage rendition of The Sun is from a project by Miami artist Autumn Casey. Autumn interpreted all 78 Tarot cards, not only as cards, but also as sculpture and installation.

 

Finally, this great modern take on the Strength card by Michael Eaton is featured in a Tarot design roundup by the folks on Eye on Great Design. This card is from the Black Power Deck, a collaboration between Eaton and Canadian musician King Khan.