Duchamp’s Pipe: A Chess Romance–Marcel Duchamp and George Koltanowski

Art, chess, and an $87,000 pipe frame an inside look at the relationship between famed blindfold grandmaster George Koltanowski and dadaist artist Marcel Duchamp.

Spanning three decades, two continents, and the international art and chess scenes of the mid-20th century, artist and art historian Celia Rabinovitch explores the unlikely friendship between art world enfant terrible Marcel Duchamp and chessmaster George Koltanowski. Rabinovitch describes each man’s rise to prominence, the surprise upset chess match that would catalyze their relationship, and the $87,000 pipe that was until recently lost to history. Set against the backdrop of two world wars, Duchamp’s Pipe is a tale of resilience, genius, and enduring friendship, grounded in detailed, technical explanations of art history, surrealism, symbolism, and anthropological ethnography.