Viennese Café: The Chess Players (Wiener Café: Die Schachspieler)
Medium
Color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 1/2 × 3 9/16 in. (14 × 9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Museum Accession, transferred from the Library
Accession Number
WW.531
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in 1911 by Moriz Jung for the Wiener Werkstätte, *Viennese Café: The Chess Players* captures a quintessential moment of early twentieth-century Viennese life. This small color lithograph depicts two men absorbed in a chess match amid the lively atmosphere of a café, reflecting the city’s renowned coffeehouse culture where intellectuals, artists, and ordinary citizens gathered to debate, read, and socialize. The Wiener Werkstätte, founded in 1903, sought to bring modern design principles to everyday objects, including prints and postcards. Jung’s work exemplifies this mission through i...
About the Artist
Moriz Jung|Wiener Werkstätte · 1885–1915
Austrian (born Czechoslovakia) Moravia 1885–1915 Manilowa (Carpathians)|