World Famous Tarot Artist: Pamela Colman Smith

Pamela Colman-Smith: A Revolutionary Tarot Artist

If you know Tarot, you’ve likely seen or even used the Rider-Waite deck at some point. Originally published in 1909, this is the most popular 78-card Tarot deck in the world. Its name comes from mystic Arthur Edward Waite, who had the idea to publish it and came up with many of the concepts behind its images, and William Rider & Son, the publisher. But there is a third person involved in this deck who until recent years didn’t get much credit: its illustrator, Pamela Colman Smith.

Pamela’s life had as much variety and fascination as the cards she drew. Born in London in 1878, she spent her early years in the UK, the US, and Jamaica. She developed a love for art, and decided to go to art school. But due to illness, she never completed her degree at New York’s Pratt Institute. Still, art is one of those things, of course, that you don’t need a diploma to do. Smith’s unusual style, which combined influences of the Arts and Crafts movement, Japanese and Chinese art, Symbolism, and her own personal vision, was a breath of fresh air to the early 20th century public. Famous photographer and gallerist Alfred Stieglitz was so impressed by her work that he invited Smith to exhibit at his New York gallery in 1907. The gallery normally only exhibited photography, but Stieglitz made an exception for Pamela and the show was a major success.

Some considered Pamela’s creative process a part of her appeal. She said that she experienced synaesthesia – that is, a mixing of the senses (for example, she could “taste music” or “feel colours”). She also listened to music and said the images she drew came from there.

She was eccentric, and so was the crowd she ran with. Back in England as a young woman, she worked as a designer for the Lyceum Theatre, and was friends with notables like Dracula author and theatre manager Bram Stoker, and poet William Butler Yeats (as well as her own works, she illustrated books by both). Yeats introduced her to the famous occult organization, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. A few years later, she and several other members, including her friend Arthur Edward Waite, separated from the Order to create their own branch, the Holy Order of the Golden Dawn. In 1909, Waite asked her to illustrate a new deck of Tarot cards.

It’s not completely certain how much or which outside influences – including motifs found on older decks – inspired Pamela. One thing that is known is that Waite described what he wanted, and then left the rest up to her. In addition to her distinctive images of the major arcana cards, Pamela revolutionised the concept of the Tarot deck by illustrating the minor arcana cards. Before then, the minor arcana had merely been decorated with the symbols that corresponded to their names.

Sadly, despite her artistic success and an inheritance, Pamela Colman Smith finished her years in isolation and poverty, dying in 1951. But with her exciting life, and with the Rider-Waite deck (which some people have started to call the Rider-Waite-Smith, Waite-Colman Smith, or Waite-Smith deck) she left behind quite a legend.

To learn more about Pamela Colman Smith, I recommend some time on google, and to get you started, this site  has some interesting information, especially about Smith and Stieglitz, and you can see some of her artwork there as well. If you are an auditory type, you might enjoy a great podcast on Colman Smith entitled “Look for the Door Into The Unknown Country” by Missing Witches. There’s also a great work of compilation headed by Stuart Kaplan on Pamela that’s called ‘The Untold Story’ and Mary Greer who is a wonderful researcher has written some really great articles, one of which is here.

You could get lost in your exploration of Pamela (Pixie) Colman Smith, but it will be a fascinating journey! Enjoy the ride. Oh and just for good measure, here is lovely article by Jacqui Palumbo called ‘The Woman Behind The World’s Most Famous Tarot Deck Was Nearly Lost in History’ – it’s relatively recent and I recommend it – definitely worth the read.

There are lots and lots of versions of Pamela’s deck, and people often ask me which one to get. Frankly, I think that personal preference matters most, but the one I use these days is the borderless version. You can check it out here and if you’re interested in learning the Tarot, you can join the crew to get access to the pre-recorded training offerings here, or come along to a live training, and there are ever more options which you can take a peek at here.