# Checker Players

**Thomas Anshutz** (American, 1851–1912)  
ca. 1895  
oil on canvas  
16 1/8 x 20 1/8 in. (40.8 x 51.0 cm.)

Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 1967.136.4. [The museum's record](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=440).

## About this work

Two boys sit engrossed in a game of checkers, each focusing intently on his next move. The dark, featureless interior draws our attention to the players' rigid poses. The lack of movement, somber tones, and carefully balanced composition create a serious image around a familiar game, something that is usually viewed as carefree and fun.

_Text from the Smithsonian American Art Museum._

Thomas Anshutz painted this in about 1895, aged 44. It is now at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Thomas Anshutz](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/thomas-anshutz)

American, 1851–1912; born in Newport, Kentucky; died in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

Anshutz studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Thomas Eakins, assisting his photographic and anatomical studies, and succeeded him as a teacher there after Eakins was forced out in 1886. His painting The Ironworkers’ Noontime of 1880 is one of the first American pictures of industrial labour. A gifted teacher for some thirty years, he counted Robert Henri, John Sloan and Charles Sheeler among his students.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was 44
- Real size: about 16 × 20 in (41 × 51 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 12 × 16 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 19th century
- Subjects: Sport and play, Recreation, Children, Checkers
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1927.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1927/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/checker-players-si-saam-1967-136-4).