“Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess" Exhibition
Francis M. Naumann Fine Art
This event has ended.
Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess” is the first exhibition devoted to exploring the influence of Duchamp’s activities as a chess player on his artistic production. The exhibition features the magnificent early cubist drawing "Study for Portrait of Chess Players" (1911), which renders Duchamp’s two brothers— Raymond Duchamp-Villon and Jacques Villon— intently engaged in a game of chess; a large central “X” in the center of the composition represents the precise point where their minds meet, a cerebral focus common to much of Duchamp’s subsequent production. Among the highlights of the show will be an example of the readymade "Trébuchet" (1917/64), the coat rack that visitors to Duchamp’s studio were expected to trip over (the chess equivalent of a gambit offered in the opening of a game); the Nice chess poster (1925); regular and deluxe examples of his book on endgame strategy (1932); the "Pocket Chess Set" (1943); and "Cupid" (1943), a recently discovered original drawing for the announcement of a show at the Julien Levy Gallery (in which Duchamp seems to have embedded a hidden message). A number of photographs of Duchamp either playing chess or seated before a chessboard will also be displayed. A signed, limited edition photograph by Arnold Rosenberg of Marcel Duchamp moving chess pieces behind glass (1958) was issued to commemorate this exhibition.
[Image: Arnold Rosenberg "Marcel Duchamp playing chess on a sheet of Glass" (1958) silver gelatin print 11 x 14 in.]
Media
Schedule
from September 10, 2009 to October 31, 2009
Artist(s)
Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Georges de Zayas, Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, Leon Kelly, Beatrice Wood, Arman, Sarah Austin, Charles Juhàsz Alvardo, Mike Bidlo, Donald Bradford, Russell Connor, Ingrid Evans, Mark Kostabi, Sophie Matisse, Daniel Meirom, James Meyer, Trong Gia Nguyen, Yoko Ono, Jennifer Shahade, Diana Thater, Douglas Vogel