

If you call yourself an art connoisseur, you have probably kept track of all that Salvador Dali has ever had to offer. However, even to the surprise of his biggest of fans – we now have cues to one of his hidden and truly unexpected pieces of work – a deck of cards that he had created originally for the 1970s James Bond film- Live and Let Die.



As word has it, Albert R. Broccoli, who was the producer for the 18th James Bond spy thriller approached Dali in 1973 to create the tarot deck for a scene in the film. The legend accepted the offer and started working on the cards. However, the contract eventually fell through as he demanded a sum that was too high even for the film’s $7 million budget.

Dali continued working on the deck regardless, and finally offered it on sale in 1984. The surreal pack of cards includes references of himself posing as the Magician, his wife, Gala Dalí playing the role of the Empress and those of Jan Gossaert’s 16th-century painting Neptune and Amphitrite in addition to many more.

The deck is now back on the market for the first time in more than 30 years and is the only thing that should be on every Dali fan’s mind! It includes 78 cards in total and comes with a companion book that includes instructions on how to use the cards and a description of their making. Dali’s Tarot cards are now available in a reproduced edition from Taschen Books for $60.

[Via:Smithsonianmag]