Man Ray

Jeu d'échecs géant, 1961

Oil on masonite
Condition noted


Estimate: €25,000 - 35,000

Tokyo, 2010, no. 265

Londres, 1969, n.p.
Benincasa/Siena, 1975, p. 39

It is probable that this work has been used as a playable chess board which has resulted in some minor wear and tear. The plywood board is sound and has recently been re-flattened. The light blue squares are composed of pre-cut squares of adhesive paper, affixed to the painted black board. Close inspection reveals air bubbles on certain blue squares (where the adhesive has come away from the board), and some light scratches and hairline paintlosses throughout. UV light reveals scattered spots of retouching notably in the black squares near the upper left corner and in the two middle black squares in the fourth row down (visible to the naked eye), as well as thin strips along the right edge. Otherwise this work remains in overall good condition.
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In addition to his own innovative designs for chess sets, Man Ray also incorporated motifs of the game into his paintings and photographs. For Man Ray the chessboard provided a new stage on which to develop his ideas, as well as an inspirational iconography for he called it “the original goal of all graphic art, a field for clear thinking, impromptu imagination, surprise, planning for the abstract.” (quoted by Larry List in London, 2008-09, p. 134).

The present monumental painting, also titled “Jeu d’Echecs Géant” (Giant Chess Painting), transforms the usual horizontal plain of the chessboard into a vertical spatial environment, incorporating the outline of a dancing figure within the checkerboard pattern. The artist intentionally painted the chessboard with the black square at the lower right, differing from the rules of chess.