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Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg      1992 Yuri Shakov      USA                                                   Art Medium: Oil paintings. Description: Yuri Shakov (1937-1989) is a Russian artist renowned for lacquer miniatures and depictions of Russian folk tales and fairy stories. He received his art education in Moscow and Palekh, His works are found in many private collections many museums including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. These tarot designs were his final commission undertaken shortly before he died. He did not manage to complete the whose set of images but these were finished in his style by some uncredited artist. He dedicated the tarot to Leo Najda, a writer whose works he had illustrated. He used the face of Stalin for the Devil. The emblem sequence for the Pips follows the Rider-Waite prototype.