RICHTER, HANS. (1888-1976). German-American Dada painter, graphic artist, avant-garde film producer and art historian. 34 original photographs related to his well-known film, 8x8: A Chess Sonata. Most of the photographs were taken by Arnold Eagle (1909-1992). Nineteen are signed on the verso by Richter (“Hans Richter” or “HR”). All the photographs are black-and-white and measure 8”x10” unless otherwise noted. Richter sent these images to his journalist friend, Léo Sauvage (1913-1988), who occasionally promoted Richter’s productions via articles in various publications.

Hans Richter, born in Berlin, Germany, became one of the principal figures of avant-garde art in the 1910s and 1920s. As an art historian and pioneer of Surrealism and Dadaism (sometimes called an art movement but more accurately an anti-art movement), he was a major influence on artists in many disciplines. He is now best known for his groundbreaking surrealistic films Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947) and 8x8: A Chess Sonata in Eight Movements (1957). Richter immigrated to New York City in 1940 at age 52, and in 1943 became a professor and the director of the Institute of Film Techniques at New York’s City College, a position he held for 13 years. In 1956, Richter turned to teaching documentary filmmaking, and in 1962, he retired and moved to Locarno, Switzerland.

8×8: A Chess Sonata in 8 Movements is a feature-length film directed by Richter in collaboration with Marcel Duchamp and Jean Cocteau, and played exclusively by non-actors: poets, painters, composers and architects, including Max Ernst, Dorothea Tanning, Alexander Calder, Jean Arp, Richard Huelsenbeck, Yves Tanguy, Jacqueline Matisse, and the 5-time U.S. chess champion Larry Evans. Described by Richter as “part Freud, part Lewis Carroll,” it is a fairy tale for the subconscious based on the game of chess. The “8×8” in the title refers to the layout of a chessboard, and the film and screen are segmented in reference to the chessboard’s structure.

Hungarian-American photographer Arnold Eagle was also known for his socially concerned documentary photographs of the 1930s and 40s. Eagle’s projects included One Third of a Nation, depicting slum conditions in New York City, and photo series on the Orthodox Jewish community of Manhattan’s Lower East Side and the vanishing elevated subway trains. He also photographed the Martha Graham Dance Company and taught filmmaking for more than three decades at the New School for Social Research.

For 25 years, Léo Sauvage, the New York foreign correspondent for the Paris daily newspaper Le Figaro, reported under the byline “New York: Léo Sauvage” to French readers on U.S. news, political and cultural events, reviewed plays and interviewed celebrities in all fields. He was also the author of nine books, the best-known of which are The Oswald Affair (1966), about the JFK assassination, and L’Affaire Lumière (1985), about Georges Méliès and the origins of cinema.

Following is a list of the 34 photographs from the film.

Hans Richter and 8x8 (1888-1976). Two photos: 1. Hans Richter, Marcel Duchamp and Max Ernst going over notes for 8x8. On the verso, Richter has written in French, “Marcel Duchamp / Max Ernst / Hans Richter / in Richter’s studio preparing shots for 8x8 by H.R.” 2. Publicity photograph showing four scenes from the film, accompanied by a press release describing the four images. The scenes feature architects Jose L. Sert and Frederick Kiesler, poet-filmmaker Jean Cocteau, actress-model Sybil Hall and actor William de Vogel.

The Living Chessboard. Hans Richter and Marcel Duchamp created a “living chessboard” in 1956, inviting their friends to Richter’s home in Southbury, Connecticut, to dress and perform as live chess pieces on a giant chessboard painted on the lawn. Three photos: 1. A view of the chess pieces in position, with Marcel Duchamp playing the game from a tree, using a megaphone. 2. Hans Richter directing the White Queen, with Arnold Eagle in the background. On the verso Richter has written in French, “Arnold Eagle behind Hans Richter.” 3. Richter observing the activities from the Player’s tree.

Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968). Long-time friend and collaborator of Richter, the French-born American artist was a sculptor, chess player and writer, associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Four photos from the set of 8x8. 1. Standing in the tree from which the Player directs the game. 2. Talking in costume with Hans Richter (8”x7½”). 3. Rehearsing with Richter and Jacqueline Matisse (1931-2021), the French artist and kite designer. 4. In conversation with Naum Gabo (1890-1977), the influential Russian sculptor, painter and theorist (8”x8”).

Max Ernst (1891-1976). German painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist and poet, and a pioneer of the Dada and Surrealism movements in Europe. Dorothea Tanning Ernst (1910-2012). American painter, printmaker, sculptor, writer, and poet, whose work was heavily influenced by Surrealism. Three photos from their segment, “The Middle Game.” 1. Hans Richter and Arnold Eagle working with Max and Dorothea Ernst (photographer unknown). On the verso, Richter has written, “Sunday morning in Wall Street / Max Ernst + Dorothea Tanning Ernst / in The Middle Game from 8x8 / by Hans Richter.” 2. and 3. Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning Ernst in two scenes on a pile of bricks, from “The Middle Game.”

Yves Tanguy (1900-1955). French surrealist painter, known for his unique and immediately recognizable style of vast, colorful landscapes populated with various abstract shapes. He was in many respects the quintessential Surrealist. A close friend of Andre Breton, Tanguy was best known for his misshapen rocks and molten surfaces that lent definition to the Surrealist aesthetic. Self-taught but enormously skilled, Tanguy painted a hyper-real world with exacting precision. His landscapes captured the attention of important artists and thinkers from Salvador Dalí to Mark Rothko, and psychologist Carl Jung, who used a canvas by Tanguy to illustrate his theory of the collective unconscious. Two photos from Marcel Duchamp’s piece “Black Schemes.” 1. Tanguy dressed for his role as a Cardinal. 2. Tanguy in front of Duchamp, who is sitting in the Player’s tree.

Jean Cocteau (1889-1963). French poet, playwright, novelist, visual artist and filmmaker, one of the foremost artists of the Surrealist and Dadaist movements in early 20th-century art. One photo: Cocteau as the pawn in his own “Queening of the Pawn” segment (7½”x9¼”).

Alexander Calder (1898-1976). American artist known for his innovative mobiles and monumental public sculptures. His performance show Calder’s Circus brought him fame in Paris as he staged it for artist colleagues and friends including Piet Mondrian, Joan Miró and Marcel Duchamp. He created a complete troupe of performers – from acrobats and animals to clowns and tightrope walkers – using ordinary household materials, everything from bits of cloth, yarn, and paper to rubber tubes, buttons, and bottle caps, and introduced the kineticism that became the defining characteristic of his art from the 1930s onward. One photo: Calder posing on the set of his segment, “A New Twist.”

Jean Arp (1886-1966). German-French sculptor, painter, and poet, known as a Dadaist but active in several fields; generally regarded as one of the greatest of abstract sculptors. One photo from the film’s “Prologue,” in which Arp has the role of “chess table.” That is, with a chessboard strapped to his back, he gets down on all fours to form a table. In this photo, while Arp is sitting with Jacqueline Matisse, U.S. Chess Champion Larry Evans moves a piece on the chess board. 8½”x6½”.

Jacqueline Matisse (1931-2021). French artist, the granddaughter of French artist Henri Matisse and later the stepdaughter of Marcel Duchamp. “Jackie” Matisse began her career assisting Duchamp, then developed into an artist herself and became best known for her designs on flying kites and their tails. She was about 25 in Duchamp’s “Black Schemes” segment. Five photos: 1. Wearing a tiara and holding an arrow at her neck. 2. Held against a tree by Richard Huelsenbeck (1892-1974), German writer, poet and artist, and one of the founders of Dada. 8”x8”; cropped for publication, resulting in Richter’s signature on the verso being cut short. 3. Helping the armor-wearing Huelsenbeck walk in the woods. 4. Resisting Huelsenbeck and Julien Levy (1906-1981), owner of Julien Levy Gallery in New York City, an important venue for Surrealists, avant-garde artists and American photographers in the 1930s and 40s. 5. Matisse resting in the tree, with Julien Levy nearby, wearing a feathered hat (7½”x8¾”). On the verso is a faint pencil drawing of this hat.

Larry Evans (1932-2010). American chess player, author and journalist, recipient of the International Chess Federation title of Grandmaster in 1957. Evans won or shared the U.S. Chess Championship five times and the U.S. Open Chess Championship four times. Four photos: 1. Evans sleeps on a hammock while actress Lucy Lattière eats watermelon (as described by Richter on the verso). 2. Evans plays a chess game atop a barrel with Hans Richter, while Julien Gompert and others watch. 3. Larry Evans, wearing the barrel, receives a drink from Lattière. 4. Julien Gompert also gives a drink to Evans, while Lattière watches.

Lucy Lattière. 1 photo (in addition to 3 photos she is in with Larry Evans): Lucy Lattière taking direction from Hans Richter, who is lying on the ground.

José Luis Sert (1902-1983). The Harvard Dean of Architecture, a Spanish-born American architect noted for his work in city planning and urban development. His designs include apartment houses in Barcelona and a master plan for the city of Barcelona, and designing the Spanish pavilion at the Paris World’s Fair (1937) in collaboration with Joan Miró, Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso. A photo from the Check the King segment, in which Sert is a matador, peering around a wall for the bull.

Sybil Hall, New York television actress and fashion model. Three photos: 1. Hall posing with Hans Richter (9¼”x7½”). 2. Hall in a scene from “Check the King,” printed as a promotion for 8x8: A Chess Sonata. 3. Hall in the same scene but printed without the 8x8 promotion. All three photographs identified and signed on the verso by Richter.

Marian Horosco (1925-2017). Ballet dancer, dance historian and writer. Horosco danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and the New York City Ballet in the 1950s, and did much of her writing for Dance Magazine, offering advice for dancers as well as in-depth articles. Three photos from 8x8, of Horosko being chased by Julien Gompert (unidentified other than his name).

In overall fine condition.