Les Quatre Saisons
A lyrical cycle of the seasons woven into the language of playing cards.
Tapestry master Jean Picart le Doux designed three decks of playing cards including Grimaud’s Four Seasons (first published in 1964), with each suit representing a season. Greens and yellows dominate clubs (spring) courts; sumptuous reds and oranges depict hearts (summer) and diamonds (fall); while somber blues, whites, and grays rule the spades (winter), creating a coherent allegorical programme that elevates the deck far beyond a conventional pack of playing cards. The joker is a surreal anthropomorphic sun figure.
Les Quatre Saisons playing cards designed by Jean Picart Le Doux first published in 1964 and reissued on behalf of Pont-A-Mousson Ltd, printed by Baptiste-Paul Grimaud, Paris, 1983.
Les Quatre Saisons demonstrates how a master of monumental textile design could successfully adapt his artistic language to the intimate format of playing cards.
Further Reference
Dondorf Playing Cards for Collectors : Jean Picart le Doux ►
By Lev Golinkin
United States • Member since May 26, 2026
I'm a US-based author and journalist. I've been collecting playing cards since I was about 8 years old, when I got mesmerized by the various decks that were used in Soviet Ukraine, where I'm from. I collect mainly European decks such as those by Dondorf, Grimaud, and Piatnik. I love courts above all else, and am drawn toward historical and artistic decks.
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