Chessmen (32) 1917

Editor: This is "Chessmen (32)", a 1917 sculpture piece housed at the Met, by an artist with the enigmatic name Max Nicholas Niemeier. It presents 32 unique chess pieces, or rather, busts atop pedestals...they evoke a stern formality. What narrative do you think these characters whisper? Curator: Whisper indeed! They remind me of peering into an old photo album, faces frozen in time. What a wonderful juxtaposition, chess being this tactical battle, played out with figures that seem so… historical, don't they? It feels like Niemeier is suggesting that every game we play is, in some way, shaped by the past. I wonder if the contrast between the dark and light chessmen suggests different cultural or national identities, maybe reflective of wartime? Editor: Oh, I hadn't considered the wartime element. I was too focused on how each piece is different! So it is history, rendered playable? Like we’re re-enacting something with each match? Curator: Precisely! It makes me think, doesn’t every portrait try to freeze a fleeting moment? Here, it’s multiplied, intensified, each piece a miniature monument to a time that's already passed. Maybe Niemeier is saying we should see each game, and each other, with the gravity of history itself. You feel the weight? Editor: Definitely! And I appreciate noticing their individual expressions too, I guess I can dive deeper to understand history by studying each of their facial characteristics… I was thinking this was an interesting art piece to pass the time. Thanks to you, I realize its weight now! Curator: Absolutely! I think these "Chessmen (32)" pieces provoke us to engage with our sense of the past.