Hugo's Tarot Cards

Claire and I visited Carcassonne, the walled medieval city in southeastern France. One of the shops we visited was Hugo's, owned by Hugo Vermeulen, a Dutch artist. I bought a nice little print of Carcassonne, and saw some oil paintings, one of which I thought was interesting. I pointed it out to Claire, but she liked the other painting, a rural scene in Holland. During the re-viewing, cogitation, and negotiation that took place over the next serveral hours, I noticed that Hugo also had a series of Tarot card prints in his shop, and they looked very interesting.

When we returned from our trip, I found a book about the history of Tarot. In short, Tarot cards are at least hundreds of years old. What I find particularly interesting is that they map human experience to a set of images. There are many interpretations of the Tarot cards, all different. And having seen Hugo's cards, I thought that his interpretations were particularly interesting. So I wrote him for more information, and bought some of his cards. I really liked the ones that I got, so I set out on the long journey to collect them all. Well, Hugo's Tarot cards are a work in progress, and he hasn't designed or printed all of them yet. But I am a patient person, willing to wait for the job to be done right.

I like this particular set of cards for several reasons. Most importantly, I like the artwork. They are handsomely crafted prints from metal. I like the monochromatic renditions (my photography is mostly black and white, after all). And equally important, I like his personal interpretation of the Tarot. The cards are enriched with his knowlege of history, philosophy, and mythology. The medieval, ancient, and mythological settings all convey the mystical nature of the particular idea of the specific card. The title of the set is "The Tarot of Joanna's Journey". And finally, this is Hugo's life's work, a personal mission. It isn't often that one can be part of such an enterprise. This set is a real piece of work.

Hugo is unfortunately not on-line. If you're in Carcassonne, stop in at his shop. Or, he can be reached via standard mail at: Hugo Vermeulen, 8 rue St. Sernin, 11000 la Cite' de Carcassonne, France.

Included here are two cards, representative of the collection.

Images (C)opyright Hugo Vermeulen

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