The Chess Players (Favén)
A large group portrait of chess masters at Café de la Régence.
The Chess Players is a 1913 painting by the Finnish (later Swedish) artist Antti Favén, inspired by his fascination with the chess scene at the Café de la Régence in Paris. It depicts a fictitious gathering of well-known chess players whom Favén met during his stay in Paris.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Antti Favén (1882-1948)
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Height
- 220
- City
- Original in Stockholm, copy in Helsinki
Facts from the source article.
Background
Yrjö Antti Favén, a Finnish cosmopolitan born in Helsinki, lived in Paris from 1902 to 1913, working in the rue de Saint-Senoch. By the end of the 1930s he settled in Sweden, naturalizing two years before his death. Favén stated that the painting would be given to the first player to win the Finnish chess championship three times; Eero Böök did so in 1936 and is assumed to have received it. Böök made a copy that was at Shakkikoti in Helsinki as of 2016. The original passed to Swedish grandmaster Erik Lundin, who donated it to the Swedish Chess Union; it is now displayed at Stockholms Schacksalonger.
Description of the painting
Originally called Les Joueurs d'échecs, the painting is notable for its size (340 x 220 cm), possibly the largest chess-themed painting in the world. Its concept—a group portrait of real chess players in a fictive scene set in an actual location they all visited, though never simultaneously—was unusual. Favén took over ten years to complete it. The work was born from his fascination with the Café de la Régence, a meeting place for internationally renowned chess players; no great master would visit Paris without going there. Identifiable figures include Siegbert Tarrasch (standing left background), Frank Marshall (center, with cigar), David Janowsky (right of Marshall, with cigarette), Amos Burn (sitting facing Marshall, with pipe), and Ossip Bernstein (facing Burn). Around these major figures revolve smaller but bright planets—regulars of the café, some of whom likely appear but remain unidentified. The windows and arched doorway suggest the main room of the café. The painting captures the romantic atmosphere before World War I, reflecting the end of a carefree era. Favén made numerous sketches of the café and players; a smaller 1905 painting includes at least one figure, possibly Joseph Blackburne, who seems to reappear in the 1913 work.
The mystery of the displayed chess players
Favén left no firm hints about who is who or whether fictional characters are included. Identification is complicated because the work was made over about ten years, during which people could change. Some figures, such as Tarrasch and Bernstein, may have been painted from photographic portraits rather than from life. A table lists the most plausible candidates for the different people represented.
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