I found myself getting interested in this deck, so dug out some old threads
here and
here and also viewed the images on
taroteca.
My thoughts:
I quite love the Art Nouveau style and always have. However, there seems to be something off with some of the Majors. I'll explain in a minute.
Then I got to the Minors. Let's take the Pentacles suit, for example. To quote another thread,
Queen of Disks said:
The Majors are fine. No problem there. The Minors are practically the EXACT same half naked female figure sitting down OVER and OVER again. (I had this deck and sold it.)
Unreadable, basically.
I can see what she means by the Minors!
I could also do without the repetitive drawing of the symbols in the Minors as though they are pip cards.
Initially I was quite taken with the Majors. Many of them are stunning! From The Fool to Death I like. Then I got to Temperance and there is just something not quite right with her female form. She looks like she has swelling in her ankles.
The Devil to me looks like something out of a Batman cartoon strip, not Art Nouveau at all. The Tower is disappointing in its lack of detail. The Star for me doesn't work. Now we are at the Moon, and I love the Moon card! The rest of the Majors are good.
There is an element of modernity to some of these Art Nouveau images. It is as though someone has taken modern faces and tried to superimpose them as an Art Nouveau style. For me it doesn't work.
Examples of modern faces: All of the women in the Pentacles suit, except for the Six of Pents, which does have an Art Nouveau face. The Four of Pents actually looks a bit gothic. Some of them almost have 80s Patrick Nagel faces. They have swirling hair, etc. but the face itself has a chiseled look.
In general the style of the women's faces keeps changing in the Minors. It isn't consistent.
So although this deck at first looked appealing, at a closer glance I think I will pass. The initial take on the Majors was great and I love the idea behind the deck! Also I know some people love this deck, which is one reason I love this forum. We all enjoy different things!