Art of Life Tarot

Deck Name: Art of Life Tarot Deck

Author(s): Charlene Livingstone

Illustrators: Various historical artists

Availability: usgamesinc.com

https://www.usgamesinc.com/Art-of-Life.html

From the moment I opened the box, I was delighted to see it is designed like a mini artist’s easel featuring a still life painting of domestic crockery by Paul Cezanne. And, right from the start the whole deck is like a who’s who of famous paintings + painters recognizable from the sweeping art movements of 18th, 19th, and 20th century Europe (predominantly). The card reader encounters: the Romantics, the Realists, the Impressionists, the Expressionists, the Modernists, the Fauvists, the Futurists, and much more! Anyone familiar with canonical art history will be interested to see how these aesthetic concepts + compositions are brought to bear on tarot lore. Each card features a painting credited to the artist, and a quote that enhances the interplay between the visual + verbal aspects of tarot reading. I noticed I was drawn to cards that I might otherwise shy away from, partly due to the paintings chosen + the quotes they were paired with. The accompanying book is minimal but effective. I would recommend this deck to someone with 2+ years of familiarity with tarot. U.S. Games publishes this deck created by Charlene Livingstone.

PACKAGING:

This top-slide easel shaped box is truly unique. It’s a little bit of a tight squeeze, but there is a slit in the top of the easel to slide a “card of the day” and leave it standing like a portrait. U.S.Games has this feature pictured in more detail on their website. Because the box is a top-opening flap, I recommend putting a rubber-band around the box for travel. Or, use a deck bag. Otherwise, the box is sturdy and works well. The cards are large -- 3.5” x 5”. Which happens to be one of my favorite size decks to shuffle. The cards have a nice weight to them at that size. And, specifically, I think this format works well for the paintings as the images/narratives. Any smaller, and some of the details, or visceral capacity of the paintings might get lost. The accompanying booklet is minimal, and readers might want to supplement their tarot practice with additional tarot lore + interpretations; especially if this is their first deck. However, the cards all contain a quote that highlights aspects of the card and is a useful source for interpretation + interaction.

STYLE:

Let’s talk about a few of the predominant images first! The card backs feature “The Tree of Life (detail)” by Gustav Klimt (1909). Not only is this painting gorgeous gold and inviting purple hues, it features spiral patterns and abstract organic shapes that pair marvelously well with the general theme of tarot: the intuitive becoming. Additionally, the tree-of-life as an artistic + mythological trope is so fitting for tarot -- growth, connection, expansion, development, interrelation modes of being, etc. It’s such a well-placed (on the card back that is), well-chosen painting. Another key painting in this deck is Paul Cezanne’s 1893, “Still Life with Apples (detail)” that permanently sits in the easel on the front of the box. It’s the first image one encounters with this deck. It’s simple, humble, domestic, richly hued; and while it’s mostly comprised of cool-toned colors, there is a warm invitation that emanates from this scene. Like you could reach out and help yourself to what you need. Again, I think this was an excellent choice for the purposes the creator hopes this deck will serve. In the accompanying guidebook, Charlene Livingstone shares how her casual relationship with tarot became much more committed after health complications with a family member nudged her towards her deck more and more frequently. Seeking answers and hoping to navigate difficult emotional territory, Charlene incorporated tarot into her life for empowerment. After having a dream about the Knight of Wands she was compelled to create a deck that added something *different* to tarot lore. She drew on her extensive background in art history and quotations to create the cards; the process helped her learn tarot more thoroughly, and to realize a few things along the way. She says, “I wanted the meanings to be displayed on each individual card and for them to be presented in such a way as to engage the reader in an internal dialogue…[using paintings with quotes] I could capture the essence of the meanings behind each card while simultaneously encouraging the reader to interpret its meaning...I wanted to create an interactive tool for people to access when they were feeling uncertain or lost and searching for direction or answers.” (Livingstone, 7).

Stylistically, the deck is comprised of many paintings from post-Renaissance Europe through the early 20th century. As such, the audience + the reader will be familiar with many of the images. This is the literal who’s who of canonical art history. But, that might be the rub -- there is very narrow representation in this deck. Most of the people featured are distinctly white (caucasian), heteronormative, and gender conforming. And, while it is interesting to see many of these familiar paintings in an entirely new light + in the context of tarot discourse; it’s still the same faces that have echoed out through the ages, getting more than their fair share of air-time + representation. Again, I would like to emphasize that as a former student of art history it is a treat to see these paintings + portraits issue forth different narratives than I’d previously imagined or learned about. They have been invigorated with so much vitality in this new role as tarot cards. This deck contains one of my favorite Chariot cards ever!

SOURCE MATERIALS:

There’s a bit of cognitive dissonance in this deck, for me at least, because while the figures + faces of BIPOC are largely absent, there is a smattering of highly recognizable quotes from these groups. For example, the Six of Pentacles card features a quote from Mohammad, a 6th century Muslim prophet from the area now known as Saudi-Arabia, paired with a mid-Victorian era painting of “The Good Samaritan” (1857) by Phillip Richard Morris. There are several problematic historical figures who make an appearance in the deck; either in portraiture or quotation. Additionally, quotes from the Christian Bible are lightly sprinkled throughout the deck. All that is to say, there’s some representational issues with this deck, and I think it could serve a wider audience if it was revised + re-issued to reflect a more intersectional approach to tarot. Anyone with some level of familiarity with Western Art History will recognize *the greats* in this deck -- groundbreaking (at the time), art movements, paintings, painters, and historical figures. Any knowledge of European history, art history, or famous quotations will greatly enhance your interactions with this deck. Or, you can always research any of these topics and deep dive the 500+ years of Western aesthetic values represented therein.

GENERAL SUMMARY:

Overall, I like this deck; but I feel like it has more potential than its current edition offers. I enjoy the blend of artistic genres and painting styles that appear centered on each of the cards. I have been personally influenced as an artist by many of these art movements. But I think this deck could benefit greatly from including a variety of racial + gender representation. Access to fine art is not something that was historically shared equally, it was segregated by socioeconomic class, race, and gender. We have the opportunity now to transmit the cultural errors of the past, to keep them alive, to pass on their traditions and values. Or, we have the option to pick up a brush, choose all the colors of the rainbow, and start painting the world we want to live in. If you work with this deck, I recommend at least 2 years of regular tarot practice and a summary knowledge of all of the cards. The guidebook will give you a skeletal outline of the cards, but you might want to supplement your readings and interactions with this deck. In Art of Life Tarot Deck, creator Charlene Livingstone, pairs a variety of paintings that she selected and captioned with famous quotations; ultimately contributing a unique, and somewhat myopic, vision to tarot discourse.