The Game of Checkers

Series Title: Landscapes and Interiors

1899

Ambroise Vollard

(French, 1867–1939)

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Culture

France, 19th century

Medium

color lithograph

Measurements

Sheet: 38 x 30.8 cm (14 15/16 x 12 1/8 in.); Image: 33 x 25.7 cm (13 x 10 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of the Hanna Fund 1951.65.2

Catalogue raisonné

Roger-Marx 32

State

III/III

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

Checkers is derived from the ancient Middle Eastern game of Qirkat.

Description

Ambroise Vollard (1865–1939), a dealer in Impressionist paintings, was also an important print publisher. In 1895 he commissioned his first portfolio from Pierre Bonnard: 12 color lithographs called Some Aspects of Paris Life (one of them is shown nearby). This was followed by many other albums of prints, including Vuillard's Landscapes and Interiors. Bonnard and Vuillard were members of a group of artists called the Nabis—the Hebrew word for "prophet"—which evokes both their playful mysticism and their determination to develop a new artistic language based on the notion that form and color could be used expressively. The Nabis favored subjects of the modern city and middle-class family life depicted in a decorative and even whimsical manner. Vuillard's intimate scenes of comfortable domesticity are wonderful examples of the beautiful color lithography produced in the 1890s.