ticketsMember | Make a donation

The Chess Players

Thomas Eakins American
1876
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 730
In this painting, the artist’s father watches a chess game between two friends in a Renaissance Revival parlor of a Philadelphia home. Eakins honored his father with a Latin inscription on the drawer of the chess table, which translates as “Benjamin Eakins’s son painted this in ’76.” A reproduction of a painting by Eakins’s principal French teacher, Jean-Léon Gérôme, hangs over the mantel. Eakins adhered to Gérôme’s academic lessons in his careful spatial construction and meticulous detail. In 1881 The Chess Players became the first work to be accepted by the Metropolitan Museum as a gift from a living artist.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Chess Players
  • Artist: Thomas Eakins (American, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1844–1916 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
  • Date: 1876
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on wood
  • Dimensions: 11 3/4 x 16 3/4 in. (29.8 x 42.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of the artist, 1881
  • Object Number: 81.14
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Frank MacDowell, Thomas Eakins American, Glass positive
Frank MacDowell
Thomas Eakins
1880s
Catherine Flanagan Towne
Thomas Eakins
1880s
Margaret Eakins, Thomas Eakins American, Glass positive
Margaret Eakins
Thomas Eakins
1880s
Margaret Eakins
Thomas Eakins
1883
Women Seated on the Grass
Thomas Eakins
1880s

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Showing 4 of 7

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.