''Salvador Dali's Tarot'' is a book by

Rachel Pollack Rachel Grace Pollack (August 17, 1945 – April 6, 2023) was an American science fiction author, comic book writer, and expert on divinatory tarot. Early life and education Pollack was born on August 17, 1945, in Brooklyn, New York to a Jew ...

published in 1985, with illustrations by

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

''Salvador Dali's Tarot'' is a book about the 78 paintings used for

's deck of

Tarot Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...

playing cards, published for him in 1984 by the

card Card or The Card may refer to: Common uses * Plastic cards of various types: **Bank card **Credit card **Debit card **Payment card * Playing card, used in games * Printed circuit board, or card * Greeting card, given on special occasions Arts an ...

-printer Naipes Comas of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The book features each painting reproduced in color on its own page. Dali began work on them in 1973 after a request from film producer

Albert Broccoli Albert Romolo Broccoli ( ; April 5, 1909 – June 27, 1996), nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career. Most of the films were made in the United Kingdom and often filmed at Pi ...

for a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

for the

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film '' Live and Let Die''. His wife Gala had an interest in the subject and may have encouraged him to undertake it. Broccoli rescinded his offer after Dali requested an excessive fee; the artist

Fergus Hall Fergus Hall is a Scottish artist, whose work has been exhibited, at among other venues, the Portal Gallery in London. Early life Hall is a native of Paisley in Scotland. Career Hall is a painter, illustrator and high school teacher. He is bes ...

produced the ones featured in the film. archive:https://web.archive.org/web/20191108043240/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-surreal-tarot-cards-designed-salvador-dali-james-bond-movie-180973506/ But Dali continued to work on his version, including his and Gala's faces in the deck, and the former James Bond,

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

, instead of

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the ...

who appeared in that film. In his

Surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

style, many of the Tarot subjects were depicted as well-known classical paintings reimagined and with

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

elements. Pollack had been introduced to Tarot in 1970, and had published ''Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom'', an interpretive guide, in 1980 and 1983.

Reception

Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science-fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'' and holds the all-time record for most Hug ...

reviewed ''Salvador Dali's Tarot'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compact star, stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very density, dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place i ...

'' #71, and stated that "I have no faith in fortune-telling, but the cabalistic symbolism is fascinating ... especially when refracted through the eye of a supremely dotty surrealist."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salvador Dali's Tarot 1985 books Books about artists Books about tarot Salvador Dalí Tarot decks

Contents

Reception

References