Independent curator Larry List will discuss unearthing an important lost chapter in chess and art history — the legendary 1944 exhibition, The Imagery of Chess.

Conceived of by New York gallery owner Julien Levy, Surrealist Max Ernst, and avant garde artist and chess master Marcel Duchamp, the exhibition included chess-themed art, music, and performance by thirty-five artists including Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Calder, Man Ray, André Breton, Robert Motherwell, and John Cage.

In 2005, List produced The Imagery of Chess Revisited exhibition and catalog for the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum, New York.Like a detective, List tracked down most of
the works from the original exhibition through networks of cooperative institutions, artists, estates, and private individuals as well as researching and reconstructing actual replicas of influential “lost” works in order to present a near-complete picture of a unique intersection of creative chess and art talent.

Refreshments provided. Admission is free but reservations are recommended; please email events@worldchesshof.org to RSVP.