Thoth Tarot 1943

Lady Frieda Harris made this Thoth Tarot card with watercolor, and you can really see the washes of colour bleeding into one another. I wonder what it was like for Harris to sit down and paint this? There’s so much going on here – spectral rays intersect with strange mythical creatures, all rendered in great detail. Look at those three-headed dogs, and how she used thin glazes of paint to model their forms. I bet she was thinking about esoteric knowledge, astrology, and symbolism while she was creating this. The painting surface is full of texture. Close up you can see the grain of the paper and all the little marks where the pigment has settled. And then there are these geometric bands of light – how did she get them so precise? I think that Harris was also looking at other artists too, and especially the work of Hilma af Klint who also explored mystical subjects through painting. It’s interesting to see how artists borrow from and build on each other’s work. Painting’s not a solitary pursuit, it’s a conversation!