A new exhibition follows the unlikely route of tarot cards all the way from 15th century Italy to its association with the occult now Once the territory of bohemians such as Pamela Colman Smith – an intimate of William Butler Yeats whose art won the admiration of Alfred Stieglitz – and mystics such as Aleister Crowley (among other things, inventor of his own religion), the tarot has now gone mainstream. Searches for how to do tarot readings skyrocketed during the pandemic, and decks are proliferating at a dizzying pace – your local independent bookstore probably sells at least a dozen of them. It’s never been easier to get a reading – or at least a quick card pull – and The Morgan Library & Museum’s new show, Tarot!, capitalizes on the practice’s increasing popularity to lure in the curious and knowledgeable alike.

Tarot! starts by charting the cards’ evolution from Renaissance Italy up through the 21st century, then offers up the tarot-themed work of more than two dozen artists – among them Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo, as well as new art by celebrated British painter Chris Ofili. Continue reading...