Chess in the Arts
Chess throughout its centuries old history is periodically reflected in the Arts. This article is about the relationship between painting and chess.
Works of art (paintings) reflected many stages in the history of chess: the process of changing the rules, the skill of the chess players, as well as the appearance of chess pieces inherent in different eras.
Many of the artists who created his paintings depicting a chessboard with pieces were quite good at understanding chess, so sometimes the aesthetic pleasure from contemplating the artist's work can be successfully combined with an analysis of the chess position itself.
Below are some selected paintings of artists of past centuries in which, besides the main artistic composition, what is also happening on the chessboard depicted in the painting is of interest.
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"Check Mate in Three Moves" — painting by Hildur Nilsen Prahl (1885).
On the canvas of the Danish artist depicts three men who bent over the chessboard in search of a solution.
The chessboard itself shows the position from the chess problem of the famous chess composer Hermann von Gottschall, published in "Kleine Problemschule" in 1885:
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"The Chess Player" — painting by John Macdonald Aiken (1922).
The position on the chessboard of this canvas by the Scottish artist reproduces the chess problem of the chess composer Emil von Feyerfeil from the magazine "Schachminiaturen" (1902):
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"Chess problem" (fr. Problème d’échecs) — painting by Charles Gill (1905).
The position on the chessboard of this canvas by the Canadian artist reproduces the chess problem of the chess composer Crichton M. Baxter from "L'Illustration" (1869):
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"A Young Man Sitting on a Settle Leaning over a Chess Table" — painting by British artist Beryl Fowler (1904).
The position on the chessboard from Fowler's canvas reproduces the chess problem of the chess composer Jesse Paul Taylor from "The Westminster Papers" (1877):
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"The Chess Players" — painting by Irish artist John Lavery (1929, Tate Gallery, London).
According to one of the versions, if we assume that the right side of the chessboard is the first rank, the position on the painting is an elegant "2-move" chess problem with the intermediate zugzwang:
Interesting Facts:
The painting was originally created by John Lavery as a sketch for the global painting "The Howard de Walden Family", but later became an independent canvas.
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"Chess players, Shakespeare and Ben Jonson" — painting by supposedly Dutch artist Carel van Mander (1603, Private collection of the Heyman family, New York).
The painting depicts the chess game of two English playwrights — Benjamin Jonson and William Shakespeare.
Approximate chess position on the canvas (Black to Move):
Shakespeare holds Black's bishop in his right hand (who was probably was on b4) and is preparing to capture White's queen on c3 (thereby declaring the checkmate).
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"Chess with himself" — painting by Russian artist Grigoriy Myasoyedov (1907, Chess Museum, Moscow).
According to one of the versions (by Isaac Linder), this canvas shows the first Russian chess master and theorist of chess Alexander Petrov. Linder assumed that the picture was painted from a photograph (engraving) of a chess player after his death.
Chess position on the painting:
Apparently, Black to Move. And after ...Qd2 they continue to increase pressure, despite the material advantage of White.
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"Chess players" (it. Giocatori di scacchi) — painting by Italian artist Paris Bordone (between 1540 and 1545, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin).
Chess position on the Bordone's painting (Black to Move, with which they checkmate: ...Qb7-b1#):
Enlarged fragment of the chessboard from Bordone's canvas:
Interesting Facts:
Attention was drawn to the square-lined floor in the gallery in the background, which becomes an extension of the space of the chessboard, as an allusion to the parallel between life and the chess game.
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"Chess Players" — painting by English artist James Northcote (1807, Worcester Art Museum).
Chess position on Northcote's canvas (White to Move):
Interesting Facts:
Some time ago, Alexandra Kosteniuk became interested in the plot of this painting and posted a message about it in her personal blog, which attracted the attention of a wide audience to it.
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I sincerely hope that the above examples of painting will help chess players to take a different look at the World of Art that extends beyond the 64 squares.
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Russian version of this article can be found here.
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The collage in the head of this article is based on free images (Pixabay/Morguefile).
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