The History of Art Cards
The idea of Art cards has been around for a very long time. They started to gain popularity way back in the 16th century. They were primarily commissioned portraits. They were the first "wallet size" pictures. The same artists who did the large family portraits would also do these more portable miniatures. Sometimes miniature portraits would be exchanged when two wealthy families were arranging a marriage. First French and later Engish artists discovered that art cards could be used as effective advertising tools. Artists during the Impressionist movement traded art cards with each other to study different styles and techniques. They also bartered or sold them for supplies or other necessities. The year 1887 marked the first appearance of "baseball cards". They were not mass produced and are very rare today. During baseball's golden years these cards started being sold with bubble gum, chewing tobacco and cracker jack. These cards were made in several different sizes according to which products they were being marketed with. Finally in the 1960s the size was standardized at 2.5 x 3.5. Swiss artist M. Vanci Stirnemann is considered by many to be the father of the Artist Trading Card movement. Inspired by hockey trading cards, in 1997 he created and showcased 1200 original trading card sized works of art in his gallery in Zurich, Switzerland. He told people who wanted one of his cards to come back and bring one of their own in trade. This sparked the current art card movement. A quickly growing group of artists on ebay now offer art cards for sale to anyone on the web.
What is the current movement all about?
Todays Art Cards are miniature art pieces that are being traded or sold by arists all over the world. The only rule is that they must measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Because of their small size they are much more affordable than normal size. Therefore, just about anyone can have their own collection of original artwork. There are thousands of artists taking part in this movement. Several terms are being used for these pieces. "ATC" stands for Artist Trading Cards (this describes the pieces that are strictly used for trading between artists), "ACEO" stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals (this refers to not only trading cards but the cards created for sale to the general public, as well as the prints made of those originals), and the term "Art Cards" is a generic, all purpose term.