FJØRN Scandinavian

Authentic Man Ray Wood Chess Board & Pieces

Exceptional Modern Design
$795.00
SKU: FJ-100065252-FJ
  • Specifications
  • Description
  • The Designer
  • Care:Hand-wipe with Dry Cloth
  • Country: Germany
  • SKU: FJ-100065252-FJ
  • Material: FSC-Certified Solid Beech Wood
  • Designer:Man Ray
  • Dimensions:
    • Chess Board: H: 0.75" W: 17" D: 17"
    • Chess Pieces:
      King & Queen H: 3.25"
      Bishop H: 2.75"
      Knight H: 2"
      Rook & Pawn H: 1.4"
Born in 1890, Man Ray (aka Emmanuel Radnitzky) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in France. Considered a pioneer of the Surrealist movement, he was best known for his photography but considered himself a painter above all. He was also known for his photograms & pictures made with photographic materials but without a camera—which he dubbed "rayographs." His general love for art shines through in the Man Ray Chess Set (1920), with abstract geometric chess pieces designed by Man Ray—the knight was inspired by a violin in his studio. Pieces and matching board are CNC-milled from FSC-certified beech, then carefully finished by hand. The board, also in beech, is carefully crafted and finished to match the pieces. This is the authentic Man Ray Chess Set, produced under license with the Man Ray Trust.

This design was inspired by Man Ray's lifelong friendship with avid chess player and fellow artist Marcel Duchamp. In this re-edition of the 1920's Wooden Chess Set, a metal version of which is in the MoMA collection, Man Ray translates traditional chess pieces in geometric forms. Handmade in Germany.

"The Holy Grail of luxury board games."departures.com

Man Ray

Emmanuel Radnitzky, by far better known by his iconic pseudonym of Man Ray, was an American artist whose innovative work established him as the leading figure behind the concepts of Dada and Surrealism, as well as for the rest of the early avant-garde art. Heavily influenced by the artworks of European authors such as Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, Radnitzky was one of the few American artists to truly be accepted as the leading source of creative ideas on the Old Continent.

Among his numerous contributions to the world of art, Man Ray's greatest achievement was the way he was able to manipulate the medium of photography by introducing the artistic potentials of different processes, such as solarization and rayographs (a special eponym for his photograms).Man Ray once famously stated that he does not photograph nature, but his own visions—this was the main driving force behind all of art Man Ray ever created.

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