Description

The piece I selected from Man Ray's Human Equations series was Endgame from 1946.  This

watercolor and oil painting was based upon a photograph taken in 1942 in which Man Ray set up two wooden mannequins facing each other, with the one on the right sitting completely. Behind them is just two sculpted pyramids, a curved object and a few spheres. In the photograph, the checkerboard is nonexistent; Ray creates the checkerboard to act as a stage for the mannequins, which represent the queen and king chess pieces as they prepare to make their last moves in a game of chess. The three-dimensional objects behind them also transform when Ray paints them, adding more objects in the foreground and making them give off the impression of chess pieces by positioning them onto the board. The figure on the right who appeared to be sitting in the photo now seems to be in motion, holding itself up by its' hands. Also there is a sense that the figure on the right is a woman, the Queen piece and the figure on the left is a man, or the King piece.

The emotive response I get from this painting is very claustrophobic and hectic. The audience is able to feel the tension as the  King and Queen pieces stare each other down right before the make their last moves. The entire frame is filled and in motion, giving off the tension that is held within the last few moves of a chess game. The narrow color palette consisting of only browns and black gives off an eerie feeling.

Endgame can be associated with chess both conceptually and symbolically. This painting was said to "engage his lifelong fascination with chess and geometric forms," in which as seen in Aline Et Valcour, another painting in Ray's Human Equations series that also includes a wooden mannequin, sphere and pyramid and is based off of a photograph as well. Endgame can also be associated with the Surrealism movement because the scene doesn't quite make sense, and gives off a dreamlike that common in Surrealist work. This piece leaves the audience with a lot of questions. Why does Man Ray represent the King and Queen through wooden mannequins and the other pieces remain as geometric forms rather than mimicking the appearance of actual chess pieces? The wall label suggests that Ray "adopted his own chess designs as players in the background and created a theatrical tableau…"a very Surreal characteristic. Mannequins were a very popular subject among Surrealists. They were fascinated with the "in-between" whether it was dreams that leak into the in between on consciousness or the fake-realness of a mannequin.