Everyone, I hope you can come to the Opening Reception of The Fool’s Journey Tarot Art Exhibit curated by Robert Place in Los Angeles.
Opening Reception
Saturday | January 23, 2010
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Admission: $10 Donation/ CAFAM Members Free RSVP to (323) 937-4230 x50 or rsvp@cafam.org
Curator’s Lecture for The Fool’s Journey with curator Robert M. Place
Learn more about the fascinating history of the Tarot and its roots in the Italian Renaissance with curator and scholar Robert M. Place.
Sunday | January 24, 3 pm
FREE with the cost of museum admission
Location: Craft and Folk Art Museum
Address: 5814 Wilshire Boulevard , Los Angeles, CA , 90036
Cross Streets: Wilshire / Curson
Region: Westside/Beverly Hills Area
Phone: (323) 937-4230
Food Services: Beverages (wine, beer) and appetizers
http://www.cafam.org/FoolsJourney.html
The Fool’s Journey: The History and Symbolism of the Tarot
January 24, 2010 – May 9, 2010
Curated by Robert M. Place
While known today primarily as a fortune telling or occult deck, the Tarot was born out of the intellectual and artistic developments of the Italian Renaissance. Links to the Tarot’s icons and symbology can be found in the popular arts and philosophy of this rich historic period. Influenced by alchemy, Hermetic mysticism and the concept of Anima Mundi (the fifth element of life), the Tarot became a conversation between mystics and artists that has lasted over five centuries. This exhibition will illuminate the 22 cards of the Tarot’s major arcana, from the Fool to the World, presenting historic examples from early decks and relating them to other works of art from that era. It will continue with historic examples of the French deck known as The Tarot of Marseilles and early occult decks that bloomed from this tradition. Popular twentieth century decks including the Waite-Smith Tarot, and works of art by modern Tarot artists will be featured to provide a deeper understanding of the Tarot’s artistic legacy and message of mystical transformation.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Robert M. Place is an internationally known visionary artist, author, illustrator, and Tarot Designer, whose award winning works, in painting, sculpture, and jewelry, have been displayed in galleries and museums in America, Europe, and Japan and graced the covers and pages of numerous books and publications. He has written several volumes on the art and philosophy of Tarot including The Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination, The Alchemical Tarot, The Tarot of the Saints and The Buddha Tarot. Robert is recognized throughout the world as an expert on and gifted teacher of the Western mystical tradition and the history and philosophy of the Tarot.
Mary K. Greer has made tarot her life work. Check here for reports of goings-on in the world of tarot and cartomancy, articles on the history and practice of tarot, and materials on other cartomancy decks. Sorry, I no longer write reviews. Contact me
Mary K. Greer's Tarot Blog 
17 comments
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January 15, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Paul Nagy
I asked Robert (thru Facebook) if this exhibit would have a published catalog. He said without someone to underwrite its cost of production it would not.
Perhaps we in the Tarot community can set up a fund so that future worthy and historic projects can be documented and published. It maybe that there are not many of us who can lend large amounts to such a fund but I know many of us would give small amounts to see that important tarot installations and events be documented for our future heritage.
January 15, 2010 at 9:45 pm
ferolhumphrey
Hear, hear!
January 16, 2010 at 9:45 am
Jacqueline Gray
I would love to see this exhibit but alas, I am up here in Canada. Best of luck, Robert. It looks great!
January 21, 2010 at 12:47 pm
Jim
Robert M. Place has written a mostly excellent book on Tarot history and is one of the most creative designers of Tarot decks. However I find he does exhibit a cultural bias in favor of Anglo-American divinatory Tarot as the only modern manifestation of Tarot in existence. While the exhibit correctly states that Tarot started as a card game in northen Italy, what I don’t think is stated is that Tarot is still played today as a card game in many countries especially in France. If the goal of this museum is to promote cultural diversity, I’m afraid they fall short of it by favoring Anglo-American notions of Tarot as a divinatory art and neglecting modern Tarot game playing.
January 21, 2010 at 1:47 pm
mkg
Jim –
If you examine Robert’s own decks you will find that they are most strongly influenced by the French Marseille deck designs and not the English Golden Dawn ones. Tarot as divination is not just an Anglo-American concept. It started in France (with a few indications of earlier use for divination in Italy). And both Tarot and card divination is, to this day, probably as ubiquitous throughout continental Europe as it has been for the past 250 years.
The Trumps used for the modern card game of Tarot in France (often called Tarock or a similar word elsewhere) are completely unrecognizable as either the original Italian or Marseille-style designs except in number. Take the numbers away from the Trumps and you would never be able to match them to the original allegorical images. Furthermore, the suits are the later French playing-card suits, not the original Italian and Spanish ones. Yet, I know of no one who protests that these are not Tarot cards!
I agree that Robert will probably emphasize the allegorical, occult, artistic, and divinatory Tarot, along with its early history, since the exhibit is titled “The Fool’s Journey.” If it had been titled “Tarock decks and game playing with Tarot” then I would not have expected it to include divination.
BTW, I have an article here with instructions on a simplified version of the game of Tarot. It is one of the least viewed articles—but not by my choice.
January 21, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Jim
French suited decks do appear in the US Games Encyclopedia of Tarot under the chapter heading “Tarock” I assume Kaplan uses this German word “Tarock” because the idea of using these suit signs for Tarot cards originated in Germany. The French call these cards “Tarot” and it is in France where the Tarot game is most popular. French suited Tarot or Tarock cards have also been a vehicle for artists. I’m sure you’ve seen the Tarot works of French artists Pino Zac and Florence Magnin. No doubt you’ve also seen Modiano’s Tarocchi di Alan or “Exotic Tarock”, an especially beautiful French suited deck.
While these cards have departed from the Milanese symbolism, they are still a valid contribution to Tarot art. If I understand the intentions of the exhibit, it is about Tarot art and the omission of these French suited cards and of contemporary Tarot game playing is a serious flaw if this organisation states diversity as one of its goals.
January 21, 2010 at 3:02 pm
mkg
Jim – The intention of the exhibit is “The Fool’s Journey” just as its title says. This term first appeared in a book by Eden Gray and was probably based on Waite’s characterization of the Major Arcana sequence as “the Fool’s progress.”
Instead of complaining, why don’t you put together the kind of exhibit you would most like to see and promote that. You could always make it a web exhibit if not an actual museum one. I assume you would include divinatory tarot even if you called it “The Game of Tarot”—in the interest of diversity. And, of course, you would include all the many variations in art, gaming and divination, media (manga and anime) and the other uses of the cards in all the countries that it is now found – Russia, Japan, Korea, China, India, South America, etc., etc., etc.
January 22, 2010 at 1:57 am
Jim
“You could always make it a web exhibit if not an actual museum one.”
Someone beat me to it!
http://www.a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/
January 22, 2010 at 1:26 pm
mkg
Jim – Ah, good. Thanks for that wonderful resource. Now it is much clearer what you think should be included in any exhibit or mention of Tarot. While I agree that diversity is good, it’s also sometimes appropriate to examine in some depth only a narrow aspect of a subject rather than always having to produce a broad encyclopedic overview.
January 25, 2010 at 1:14 pm
peter terry
I became aware of this from the LA TIMES. I’m fifty miles away. I wish I had known sooner.
January 25, 2010 at 7:39 pm
meijimari
Two related events starting in February regarding the Tarot and Los Angeles Craft and FolkArt Museum events:
1, Make your own tarot with print-making Feb 16-March 2 (3 classes on Tuesday nights) — instructor Holly Jerger
http://www.cafam.org/curiosity.html
Robert Place will be coming back on March 21st to teach a four hour class based on the Fool’s Journey: Workshop 1-5 pm.
Hope people can enjoy a follow up workshop!
March 13, 2010 at 11:25 am
meijimari
Hello, there might be a print on demand catalog of the exhibit…
By Robert Place coming up…there’s also his March class on the 21st in Los Angeles, at the California Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles.
I hope to hear more about the catalog soon!
March 14, 2010 at 2:38 pm
Sherryl Smith
Here’s my opinionated reaction to the exhibit.
Place’s exhibit was visually stunning as the walls were painted black, making the cards really pop out. There were 22 displays with identical layouts, one for each trump card. Place’s decks (Alchemical and Sevenfold Mystery) were prominently displayed surrounded by a supporting cast of major arcana cards from various contemporary and historical reproduction decks.
My expectations were probably too high, but I was disappointed there weren’t any historical nuggets borrowed from museums. I have most of the decks on display and the rest are easily found on the Internet; so there was really nothing new for me. Some of the decks shown: Flornoy’s reproductions of the Noblet and Dodal TdM, an old Waite Smith edition (from the 20s I think), Vandenborre, a 19th century Etteilla fortune telling deck which isn’t really Etteilla’s design, Deviant Moon, Palladini’s Aquarian.
Place’s beliefs about Tarot are the bedrock of the exhibit, so don’t show up expecting a balanced lesson in tarot history. If game playing was mentioned at all it was just in passing. Place assumes that Tarot was invented to illustrate occult, hermetic and neoplatonic theories and everything he says about it is steeped in this mind set. I happen to agree with Paul Huson that Tarot is a product of medieval popular culture and reading occultism into it is an artificial overlay. So I felt a bit like a southern Baptist at Pantheacon (or a pagan at the Crystal Cathedral) having my nose rubbed in a world view I can’t accept. The show was interesting and lovely to look at, but didn’t add anything to my knowledge of Tarot.
The gift shop is carrying his silver jewelry and a deck that made me drool – a limited edition reproduction of the Metropolitan Sheet, which is one of my favorite versions of the trumps from that time. I think he calls it an old Ferrarese deck. You can see it in Kaplan’s Encyclopedia Vol. II, pages 273-274. It’s a beautifully done wood block print with deep colors, forest green especially. (I lost my notes from this trip so I’m reporting all this from memory.) It comes in a leather pouch, but costs $200 which stopped me in my tracks since Flornoy’s decks cost much less for all 78 cards!
If you aren’t thrilled with the idea of driving to L.A., here’s some alternate ways of getting to the museum. The Santa Barbara Airbus (805-964-7759) runs excursions every few months that drop people off at either the Getty or LACMA. The Craft and Folk Arts museum is across the street and down one-half block from LACMA. Next trip is April 18. The bus picks up and drops off people in Goleta, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Ventura, Camarillo and Thousand Oaks. You can also take the Amtrak or Metrolink to Union Station where a city bus takes you straight down Wilshire Blvd. (I’m starting to sound like the Chamber of Commerce).
Sherryl
March 14, 2010 at 5:15 pm
mkg
Sherryl –
Thank you so much for your excellent review. I think your analysis is very fair, and I, too, was disappointed that there wasn’t more unusual historical material on display. However, I really enjoyed seeing the 19th century Jeu de Princesse (Etteilla-based) deck. There was a copy of Le Monde Primitif from a later edition (early 19th century?) rather than the original, and it was behind a glass case so we only got to view two pages. I guess when we go to a museum we expect to see more “old” stuff (me, too).
You are right that game playing was not addressed. This exhibit was about “The Fool’s Journey” in tarot art. I think it accomplished that objective, although it focused too much on modern reproductions of antique decks (in my opinion).
Knowing that it was curated by Robert Place, I wasn’t surprised that it emphasized his own theories about a Neoplatonic source for the Fool’s Journey motif. More power to him—he worked hard to get the gig, and so he got to do what he (and the museum) wanted. Thus, he was able to introduce a lot of people to a fairly sophisticated philosophical approach. He did not declare that that is all there is to Tarot.
Yes, I wanted more, but I think Robert did a good job of presenting what he said he was going to present. There’s plenty of room left for a far more inclusive exhibition that would showcase the whole history of Tarot.
March 14, 2010 at 6:02 pm
meijimari
I really enjoyed reading the latest views posted.
I had heard in 2009 that if anyone knew of a museum that was willing to host, fund and insure a continuation of what was presented in L.A., they would be very welcome to contact Robert Place.
This Jan-May 2010 exhibit at the Los Angeles museum was the result of what funding could be obtained through limited grants and what loans of material could be obtained through private parties by museum staff and those who knew Robert Place. The loans of historic material were done for free, of course, and I believe at least two of the decks predate 1911.
It is too bad no other historical material was able to be obtained for the show. Yes, I heard that at least permission was granted by publishers to use the images in the museum show…but other than the contributions seen at the museum…no one else that I know of has stepped up.
I contacted a local art museum in Northern California to see if this kind of exhibit would be available under their funding or charter, but it takes a major corporation funding or a government grant to put on such a show…or private contributors willing to put up four to five figures with matching grants. I haven’t been able to give that, but I did contribute what I could to at least both the L.A. museum and the hopes of a catalog.
I would be glad to hear of more efforts by others and their exhibits regarding tarot in the U.S. I haven’t heard of many recent ones other than this one in California, so just was glad that this one happened in these times!
March 14, 2010 at 6:32 pm
mkg
Mari –
You make excellent points about the expense of a museum show here in the US, and most of us do not realize what’s actually involved. It’s not like France or Italy where Tarot is a national treasure, antique decks easier to access, and tarot historians are well-respected.
I want to acknowledge your generosity in helping out with Place’s exhibit including contributing the wonderful Jeu de Princesse deck.
I didn’t mean to put down Robert’s exhibit in any way—just to point out that it was limited to what was advertised and was never intended to cover all Tarot possibilities. I’ve seen antique tarot cards at several major museums in the US and abroad and wish others could have a chance to view them. Robert is sponsoring a private viewing of the special collection at the MET later this year, but this is necessarily (space and security-wise) for a very limited group.
March 14, 2010 at 9:24 pm
meijimari
Thanks for your kind comments…everyone’s opinion was very thoughtful, valid and well-expressed! I am so glad that there was discussion on this.
I just wanted to note gently for those reading this, if people do know of other local museums interested in this kind of exhibit and they can contribute constructively–that would be welcome news! I’d love to visit other places and add a tarot exhibit as a very special event!
…Oh, just for the record…it was a very kind deck collector and business owner of a small tarot distribution house who contributed his Jeu de Princess.
(Smiles-to-you–we don’t say in public what specifically I contributed–best wishes all!)