Artist trading cards
The Impressionists utilized both sides of their artist trading cards, art on one side and a kind of brief resume on the other. Others feel they are decidely different pieces of art. Clubs, trading sessions, and online mailart communities have largely replaced the original concept of trading the cards during individual encounters, and many ATC workshops end with a trading session An offshoot of Artist Trading Cards are the Art Cards, Editions, and Originals (ACEO).Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards, Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc). The Impressionists were the first known artists to use the cards in trade for anything other than more art.
Artists would trade the cards between themselves to study each others techniques and explore new art movements. Many people consider art trading cards and ACEO cards to be one and the same.
ACEOs originated when some artists began to create cards to sell, in addition to trading among themselves. As one example, Michael Leavitt specifically designed his Art Cards (2001-03) to be appreciated as originals unto themselves. Because of their small size and usually modest price they have been linked to portrait miniatures, which flourished in the 14th century, and were often used as advertisements by wealthy merchant families in arranging marriages for their daughters.
This resurgence of interest of Artists trading cards has spawned the popular ACEO (art cards editions and originals) movement. Impressionists often traded the cards with art collectors in exchange for room, board, and art supplies. M.
Until this time art collecting was mainly the hobby of the Noble and Royal classes. In later centuries artist trading cards were used throughout Europe and America as art training tools. His hand-painted small portraits of artists replicated traditional baseball trading cards in style and format. .
Vänçi Stirnemann is credited in many circles with popularizing the modern artist trading card in 1996, holding trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland. The cards paid a particularly important role in the Impressionists art movement.
The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold. Art trading cards can be seen as the modern incarnation of several much older artistic forms.
