Here’s a little walk down memory lane. These cards are from London – late 1970 or early ’71, printed in a magazine called Gear of London and designed by Barry Josey. Obviously they are based on the works of Aubrey Beardsley. If anyone has any more information on this deck or the magazine, please let me know.

Update: I received an email from the artist Barry Josey (love the internet!). Finding that his art could not support him, he went back to his profession as an architect and also left the tarot behind, but hopes to return to art when he retires. Here he explains how the deck came about:

“Initially, the cards were set out as a poster style calendar, and then they were intended to be printed as packs.  At the time, I knew nothing of Tarot, but had to immerse myself albeit briefly to get a starting point for the drawings.  Beardsley was ‘in’ at the time and because I could approximate the style, Gear asked me to prepare the cards.  The drawings were black and white only, and it had been my intention that they be printed on a single buff or similar pastel colour.  Gear disagreed and printed them in the rather garish primary colours you see before you.”

Here’s another example of the art of Barry Josey—an illustration for a play by Jean Genet.

bj-1971-genet