Contrasts:Art Nouveau 1895 Calendar spoof with Tarot, Astrology and Darker "Occultic"

Cerulean

Contrasts:Art Nouveau 1895 Calendar spoof with Tarot, Astrology and Darker "Occultic"

Paris, L'Art Nouveau, 1895 Calendier Magique, from De Croze, Austin

In February 2011 a listing of Ephemera at the Antiquitarian Book Fair included a catalog listing an edition of one of 777 copies mimicking the Christian Calendar in charting the year of magic for 1896.

The publisher, Siegfried Bing, was an art dealer and collector whose shop gave its name to the Art Noveau movement. Printed in red and black in Gothic script with color and gold lithographs by Manuel Orazi

...it was a pop culture satirical work of art with supposedly horoscope, magic, tarot, fantastic animals, lunar charts, sun compasses and yes, Bosch-like grim and 'sci-fi' horrifics.

Think Dali, Bosch, sci-fi and toss in what pop culture of the time would view as occultic and exotic. All the bright and pretty embellishments that I would usually associate with Mucha's pretty florals and Gibson beauties also have Oswaldish Wirth-style tarot bits and pieces.

All images of the calendar is said to be posted at the Fantastic in Art and Fiction by the Cornell University Library website. Copies and documentation might also exist at Hofstra, Free Library of Philadelphia, Indiana, Victoria and Albert.

http://fantastic.library.cornell.edu/bookrecord.php?record=F051

As of February 2011, these are the search notes:

Author: Austin De Croze
Title: Calendrier Magique
City: Paris
Publisher: L'Art Nouveau
Year: 1895

Collection: Witchcraft
Catalog No. BF1566.C95+++

Notes Colored Lithographs by Manuel Orazi. A rare piece of occultist ephemera, printed in an edition of 777 copies to commemorate magic for the coming year of 1896. Each double page spread mimics the Christian calendar in some respect (name days, iconography). The document is at once a spoof and an attempt to chart the year of magic. Its surviving interest resides in the extravagant and compelling illustrations, especially the full-page right hand plates, by Manuel Orazi.

The picture in my catalog is April 1896, small insert. I also found it at the Cornell University website, info above...a mix of tarot and popular art culture of 1896.

You have to page through all the images of the calendar to pick out the tarotlike ones. Remember it is an 'artistic' interpretation of the 'occult' circa a French satirical humor, so please excuse the period fantasy misunderstanding of what we might deem to hold dearer or see more respectfully now with gentler eyes today.

Sometimes paging through this artistic work, I get annoyed at the mishmash-other times I think of how I would rework my vision of an Art Nouveau work with tarot...say the rather lovely Editions Dusserre 1902 Tarot Francais des Fleurs (which I think I bought from Tarotbear's lair).

I thought the contrast of art nouveau beauty with a calendar and cards and tarot might be of interest. Enjoy!
 

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DoctorArcanus

Thank you Cerulean! These are beautiful and very funny :)