Pamela Colman Smith
In their own terms: An artist, storyteller, and suffragist who saw images as a language more universal than words
As history sees them: The uncredited genius behind the world's most popular tarot deck — paid once, never acknowledged in her lifetime
Illustrated all 78 cards of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck in approximately six months (1909). First to create fully illustrated scenic Minor Arcana for a mass-produced deck. Drew on Golden Dawn symbolism, the Sola Busca tarot, and her theatrical training. Paid a flat fee of approximately 50 pounds with no royalties.
Biography
Born February 16, 1878, in Pimlico, London. Only child of Charles Edward Smith, an American merchant, and Corinne Colman, sister of painter Samuel Colman. Her childhood was split between Jamaica, New York, and London. After her mother's death when Smith was about ten, she was taken in by the circle around the Lyceum Theatre — Henry Irving, Bram Stoker, and especially Ellen Terry, for whom she worked on costumes and stage design. She enrolled at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn at age 15, studying art under Arthur Wesley Dow. She developed a Symbolist-influenced style and became the first non-photographic artist exhibited at Alfred Stieglitz's gallery 291 in New York. She wrote and illustrated two books of Jamaican folklore and launched her own literary magazine, The Green Sheaf, with contributions from W.B. Yeats.
It was Yeats who introduced Smith to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which she joined in 1901. Through the Order she met Arthur Edward Waite, who in 1909 commissioned her to illustrate a complete tarot deck. The key innovation was fully illustrated narrative scenes for all 78 cards, including the pip cards of the Minor Arcana, which traditionally had only geometric suit-symbol arrangements. She drew on Golden Dawn symbolism, the Sola Busca tarot (which she viewed at the British Museum), and her theatrical training. She completed all 78 illustrations in approximately six months.
Smith was paid a flat fee — reportedly around 50 pounds — and received no royalties or copyright. The deck would become the most widely used tarot deck in the world, but her name was almost entirely erased from its history until recent decades. She apparently never referred to the cards again after their publication. In 1911, she converted to Catholicism and supported the suffrage movement. She purchased a home in Bude, Cornwall, where she lived with her companion Nora Lake. Her later years were marked by financial hardship and increasing obscurity. She died on September 18, 1951, at Bude. Her estate was valued at almost nothing, and she was likely buried in an unmarked grave.
Key Works
- ILLUSTRATED Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot (1909) — 78 card illustrations, the most influential tarot deck ever
Intellectual Lineage
Influenced by
- Arthur Edward Waite commissioned Waite directed Smith's illustrations based on Golden Dawn symbolism
Timeline
Sola Busca tarot engraved
First complete 78-card deck with fully illustrated Minor Arcana. Alchemical themes throughout. Directly influenced Pamela Colman Smith's RWS illustrations 400+ years later.
Rider-Waite-Smith deck published
Arthur Edward Waite commissions Pamela Colman Smith to illustrate a full 78-card deck. Published by William Rider & Son. First mass-produced deck with fully illustrated Minor Arcana. Smith completes all 78 illustrations in approximately 6 months for a flat fee of 50 pounds.