Did Frieda Harris sign her paintings?

Zephyros

PCS put her signature boldly on every single card, or almost. But Harris, I don't even know what hers looks like. If she didn't, was it deliberate on her part, not wanting to put herself in Crowley's deck? Or did she just not sign her paintings as a matter of course? Is there a hidden signature anywhere in the deck?
 

Samweiss

I did a quick google search on her non-tarot paintings and I didn't see signature in any one of those. PCS had a background in illustration and Frieda Harris had more of a fine arts thing going on. In commercial arts the artist don't always get mentioned so they sign their paintings while in fine arts the artist represents him/herself so they don't have to do that, so that is my guess for the difference.
 

ravenest

Surely the art for the tarot cards would be 'applied arts' ? Even if they are applied to an esoteric end ... same as her tracing boards.

Didnt she conceal her identity at some stage during some type of show or publicity for the deck ?
 

Zephyros

PCS had a background in illustration and Frieda Harris had more of a fine arts thing going on. In commercial arts the artist don't always get mentioned so they sign their paintings while in fine arts the artist represents him/herself so they don't have to do that, so that is my guess for the difference.

That makes sense, although the practice of signing a painting is pretty ubiquitous. On the other hand, I've found that in modern times, a general rule is that the worse the artist is, the more prominently they will display their signature.

Didnt she conceal her identity at some stage during some type of show or publicity for the deck ?

I do know that she concealed his name from the gallery literature, it was in their correspondence. They were worried his reputation would have an adverse effect on the number of visitors.

Surely the art for the tarot cards would be 'applied arts' ? Even if they are applied to an esoteric end ... same as her tracing boards.

Would that be why? Seems like a good reason. The tracing boards are all I can find of her other art.

On another note, amazing what you can find when looking for Thoth-related pictures.. Booklet! Hah! I love it!
 

Samweiss

I must say I still stand by my assumption:

For PCS creating artwork, it was her job, for her illustrating RWS was more like "another day in the office" but Frieda Harris was more of a gallery artist type (even if Crowley was her client). I would say PCS was more commercial type of artist than Frieda Harris.
 

13Hermes

I saw the originals in 1998

I saw the originals in 1998 at the Warburg Institute. They were unsigned.