Designs for Chessmen
Marcel Duchamp
American, born France. 1887–1968
c. 1920
Duchamp’s ink, pencil, and relief-printed sheets propose a modern chess set in which each piece is pared down to a bold, playful silhouette that treats a functional object as a sculptural idea.
Each quadrant holds a small, high‑contrast black icon — a spiky crown, a blocky rook, a sawtoothed horse head and quirky pawn shapes — floating on generous white space so their economy of line and whimsical geometry read like visual puns.
These designs reveal Duchamp’s fusion of art and game, recasting chess pieces as conceptual objects and helping pave the way for later modernist and conceptual practices that blur utility and artistic invention.
Medium
Ink, pencil, and relief printing on paper
Dimensions
8 5/8 x 9" (21.9 x 22.9 cm) each
Classification
Department
Credit
Katherine S. Dreier Bequest
Accession
215.1953.a-d
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
