The Chess Players 1911

Moriz Jung pulled this print of "The Chess Players" sometime around the turn of the century, and it feels so contemporary, doesn't it? Look at the way he's used color, pushing it to the edges of the forms, almost like the shapes are vibrating. I find my eyes drawn to the guy on the left, all elbows and red socks. He’s so into the game, his whole body is part of the thought process. I love how Jung uses these thin, washy colors to create depth and texture. It’s like he's making space, and all the while he's keeping everything flat. See the way the spectators blend into the background? This reminds me of some of the prints by Kirchner and the German Expressionists. They were all trying to find new ways to represent the modern world, capturing the feeling of being alive in a time of rapid change. "The Chess Players" isn’t just a picture of a game, it's a glimpse into a whole world of ideas about thinking and being.