"The Chess Players", 1911

"Portrait of Chess Players" created in 1911 by Marcel Duchamp is his exploration of cubism. However, his techniques also give the sense of motion and passage of time as the two figures play chess. The use of repetition of similar line shapes and qualities give the feeling the the figures are playing each other and making their next moves. The most intriguing part for me is that when you look at the painting closely you see just lines and random repeated shapes, but when you take a step back and see it as a whole, you can see the figures and more importantly see the actions and movements of the two people leaning in towards each other and pondering their chess moves.