Rare Hand Painted Signed Karl Gerich(1956-2016) Wall Art Playing Card Poker 1982.

Karl was a brilliant playing card maker and one of the most genius artist-craftsmen I had the pleasure to learn about his work and know. He could do it all: Come up with the tale, weave meaning(s) into it, fill it with spirited characters of his liking, draw it, etch it, print it, colour it and handcraft the inks, paper and card into wondersome packs of playing cards, each of them living in their own, most exquisitely crafted boxes. Every pack a magical marvel, filled with the spirit of this genius card maker … All this he did using his Adana printing press, very simple hand tools and great skill. When Karl closed down his studio in St.Peter’s Terrace in Bath, England and moved to Poplar Close, he sold off work for which he felt he no longer wanted to be the custodian. So a number of prints reached the market then. Printed sheets by Karl Gerich don’t often turn up for sale – certainly a lot less than his scarce finished packs - as he never really considered his proofs as to be saleable. To him they were after all only unfinished playing cards, more like samples and he generally would get rid of them. However once in a while he would produce finely finished (uncut), signed sheets, intended for framing. As work progressed, Karl would print proofs of the copper plates at their various states, steadily completing all the yet to be etched surfaces and dry point retouching the individual images as the whole design neared its completion to be ready to print Karl’s magic. Today, Karl’s work is widely recognised and examples of his work command respectable prices on the secondary markets.

Thank you for looking at my listing. If you have any further questions or need the item quicker than the estimated delivery date, please do not hesitate to contact me.