Bicycle Old Masters V1 2014 edition Playing Cards, Mona Lisa seal, Made in USA, by Johnny Wham on Kickstarter, Mona Lisa, painting, renaissance, limited edition, fine art, museum artworks, Out of Print. Brand new, sealed

Description

– Note: This is the 1st edition, slight changes were later made to update and refresh the design, including a round frame around Mona Lisa (halo), and 2nd edition unique seal on the deck itself. Bicycle Old Masters featuring Mona Lisa on the cover, by Johnny Wham.
– Launched on Jan 31 2014 on Kickstarter, it was so popular that the crowdfunding efforts exceeded all expectations. In 32 days, 618 backers had pledged $18,095 towards the creation of this deck of cards you hold in your hands!
– For the full review from The Cardists, please find the video here ->

– Available editions:
– Bicycle Old Masters Mona Lisa V1, 2014, no halo round frame, Mona Lisa seal
– Bicycle Old Masters Mona Lisa V2, 2022, updated halo round frame, 2nd edition seal
– Bicycle Old Masters Limited Edition (Red)

🌟 From the Kickstarter page:
“Johnny Whaam’s original art work of the Old Masters playing cards (made new) is a truly stunning piece of art! Our goal, with the help of Kickstarter, is to get this classic playing card deck in art museum gift shops around the world! Printed by the USPPC, and branded by Bicycle on their classic air cushion finish, this beautifully designed playing card deck is bound to be a delight for art lovers everywhere.

🌟 This collection starts with the Mona Lisa tuck case in a deep sea green color theme. Each playing card deck will include all 54 ORIGINAL designs. Johnny puts his own small spin on the artwork, sure to make the original artist smile. Look for the hidden pips in each of the court cards.

🌟 It has been a huge challenge for me to work on this project. I’ve always been greatly inspired by old paintings. The very base of development of my painting skills comes from painters that through centuries created such masterpieces I couldn’t get enough looking at…and visually absorbing the themes, shapes, colors literally for hours. As a kid I used to open an art book and then I’d get stuck on just one page for a long time, watching the details, wondering if I’ll ever be able to paint something like that.

🌟 Well, long story short ;), playing cards design that you see here is truly an homage to all those creators that I sometimes envy for they’ve lived in a time without such many…technological distractions (internet, games, movies…) that sometimes make it hard(er) for a 21st century guy to focus on drawing and painting.

🌟 It has been difficult to choose what paintings to re-create and take the person originally painted from the context of the author’s theme and place him/her in another context, that of…playing cards. I didn’t want to change much details and I needed the positions and expressions to fit the card placement and work as a mirrored picture, as a playing card should be…

🌟 I also had to limit the painters to number 14 (12 courts + 2 jokers) so… I was very careful choosing the artists. Each of these presented in the deck is a very famous and significant artist, from different periods in time, a true master. As you can see in the video, all work, all painting has been done digitally. The process is the same as traditional, the tool is brush,… color palette to choose from, blank canvas, on screen 🙂

🌟 Johnny originally painted the Michelangelo David statue without the cloth, true to the original. Due to legal issues with USPPC they asked us to cover the privates. If you pledge for the puzzle set, you will receive a puzzle with the original art, without the cloth.