The collection of Tarot original artworks, that form part of the Dalí Universe Collection, represents the universal ‘Tarot’, and were created by Dalí in collage, watercolor and gouache in 1970. Dalí worked diligently on each tarot, to create an ethereal, surreal -collaged image, invoking the famous personages of the Tarot, diviners of the past, present and future.
Tarot cards date from fifteenth century Italy, when they existed as a card game known as‘ troinfi ‘( triumph). The first documented tarot cards date from 1440-1450. The game is better known in modern times as the card game ‘ trumps’.
Dalí’s Tarot is the first re-interpretation of the major and minor Arcana since 1910, and the only set to have been painted by the great artist.
It was Gala, Dalí's wife and lifetime muse, who nurtured his interest in mysticism, and it was for Gala that these beautiful series were painted.
The cards are popularly associated with fortune telling and are generally understood as sequential symbols of spiritual growth. This theme was fascinating for Dalí , whose artistic raison’ d’etre was to liberate the unconscious from the constraints of everyday reality.
Dalí gave each card its own highly personal imagery, while at the same time maintaining traditional symbolism.
The collection has rarely been exhibited, and illustrates Dalí at his most creative, during the height of his imaginative powers during the 1970s.
