Surrealism and symbolism in Salvador Dalí's tarot deck
Legend has it that during preparations for the James Bond film Live and Let Die, producer Albert Broccoli commissioned surrealist master Salvador Dalí to design a deck of tarot cards. Probably inspired by Gala, who fueled his interest in mysticism, Dalí set to work. He was enthusiastic about the project and pursued it even when the agreement with the producer ultimately fell through.
His designs were published in a limited Art Edition in 1984, long out of print, making Dalí the first major painter to create a completely new deck of tarot cards. Drawing on Western masterpieces from antiquity to modernity (including some of his own creations), Dalí seamlessly blends his knowledge of the arcane with his unmistakable wit. The result is a surreal kaleidoscope of European art history.
TASCHEN brings back all 78 cards in a new tribute to the inimitable deck designed by Dalí, accompanied by a booklet by renowned German tarot expert Johannes Fiebig that includes an introduction to Dalí's life and the making of the project, a detailed description of each card's composition, meaning and practical advice, step-by-step instructions on how to read the cards, and a jargon-free explanation that simplifies tarot for beginners.
Johannes Fiebig is a renowned writer in the field of tarot and a leading expert on the psychological interpretation of symbols. He published his first book in 1984. Since then, his works have sold more than two million copies and have been translated into several languages. He founded the Königsfurt publishing house in 1989 and was managing director of Königsfurt-Urania and AGM-Urania until 2018. Since then, he has been a freelance writer based in Kiel.
