Karl Korab

Austrian artist Karl Korab (born 1937) surely drew his inspiration for this, his first pack, from carnival figures. The colourful designs are somewhat surreal, clearly betraying one of his favoured techniques, namely collage. The cards are elongated, with full-length figures on the court cards, each one carrying his signature. The indices (K, D, J) are an odd mixture of German and English, appearing only once on each court card. All the aces have a large central suit-sign, each with added decoration. There are no miniature suit-signs in the corners of the numeral cards. On the extra card are a biography of the artist and a list of his exhibitions (both in German) on one side and a black and white photograph of the artist in his studio on the other .  The borderless back design is composed of 11 vertical stripes.

Above: playing cards designed by Karl Korab, published by Molden Edition Graphische Kunst, Vienna, Austria, 1973. 52 cards + 3 (identical) Jokers + 1 extra card. Size: 63.5 x 115 mm.

Reference

Fournier Museum Catalogue, Volume I, Germanic Countries 425.