Robert M. Place

Robert M. Place, born in 1947, is an American artist and author renowned for his deep engagement with the history, symbolism, and divinatory aspects of Tarot. His artistic career, which began in the 1970s, encompasses sculpture, jewelry design, and illustration, with his sculptures exhibited in notable institutions like the White House and the New York State Museum. He has received significant recognition, including a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship and awards for his metal sculpture.

In the 1990s, Place shifted his focus to the creation of Tarot decks and authorship. He is particularly known for "The Alchemical Tarot," a deck and book set that draws parallels between alchemical processes and the Tarot's trump cards, rendered in the style of 17th-century alchemical engravings. His other Tarot creations, such as "The Angels Tarot," "The Tarot of the Saints," and "The Buddha Tarot," explore the intersections of religion, mysticism, and Tarot symbolism. Place's book, "The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination," is a significant contribution to the field, examining Tarot imagery in the context of 15th-century Italian Renaissance art and philosophy, and championing Pamela Colman Smith as the primary designer of the Waite-Smith tarot. He has also been a prominent lecturer and teacher on Western mysticism and Tarot, sharing his expertise at institutions worldwide.

Robert M. Place has been active as an artist since the 1970s, working across various mediums including sculpture, jewelry, and illustration. His sculptural works have been displayed in significant venues such as the White House Christmas tree, the New York State Museum, the Delaware Art Museum, and the Irish American Heritage Museum. His jewelry has also garnered attention, being exhibited at the American Craft Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and internationally in Germany, as well as in numerous galleries across the United States, Ireland, Britain, and Japan. Place's artistic achievements have been recognized with a 1984-85 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship and consecutive Niche Magazine awards for outstanding metal sculpture in 1990 and 1991.

In the 1990s, Robert M. Place began dedicating his illustrative talents to the creation of Tarot decks and started his career as an author. He is widely recognized for "The Alchemical Tarot," a pioneering deck and book that visually links the alchemical "great work" with the allegorical journey of the Tarot's major arcana, executed in the aesthetic of 17th-century alchemical engravings. Place has further explored thematic connections in decks like "The Angels Tarot," "The Tarot of the Saints," and "The Buddha Tarot," investigating the relationships between religion, mysticism, and Tarot symbolism. His seminal book, "The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination," offers a scholarly examination of Tarot's origins, rooting its imagery in the art and philosophy of the 15th-century Italian Renaissance and advocating for Pamela Colman Smith's role in designing the Waite-Smith deck.

Robert M. Place is a respected educator and lecturer in the fields of Western mysticism and Tarot history and practice. He has held regular teaching positions at the New York Open Center since 1996 and the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 2009, in addition to presenting at numerous Tarot congresses and esoteric studies conferences across the United States and internationally in Italy, Australia, Brazil, and China. His lectures have been featured on broadcast media including the BBC and the Learning Channel. Place played a role in the opening of the Museo dei Tarocchi in Italy in 2007 and curated an exhibition on Tarot art and history at the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum. His facsimile of an early Italian Renaissance Tarot is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.