Karlis Padegs
Karlis Padegs (1911-1940) was a Latvian artist who designed 17 playing cards in 1936 - joker, aces, kings, queens and jacks.
Karlis Padegs, Riga (Latvia)
Karlis Padegs was a Latvian artist who designed 17 playing cards in 1936 - joker, aces, kings, queens and jacks. Apart from a one-man exhibition in Riga in March 1936 where he showed his playing cards, Padegs was seldom mentioned and the public showing of his work was practically prohibited due to the Soviet occupation. Over 60 years later, the drawings were made into a pack of cards (1997) with extra artwork taken from Padegs’ other works to complete the deck (back, box, etc).
Above: cards from the first edition of a pack designed by Karlis Padegs (1911-1940).
There were two editions, each of 1000 decks. The first edition has an incorrect index letter ‘G’ for ‘King’, which was corrected in the second edition. The more expensive second edition (1999) was a double set intended for Bridge players.
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
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