Surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968, wiki) was a playful man, challenging conventional thought about artistic processes and art marketing through subversive actions such as dubbing a urinal “art” and naming it Fountain. He was also fascinated with chess, and considered for a while becoming a professional player. In 1963 Duchamp posed with American writer Eve Babitz for photographer Julian Wasser during a retrospective of his works at the Pasadena Museum of Art.

The chessboard on the photo was made by Duchamp himself and went on auction at Sotheby’s in London, in 2007. For a promotional photo British artist Peter Blake and actress Carol Holt recreated the scene of 1963.

The chessboard was estimated to go for GBP 200,000. I don’t know what the final bid was but I do know that I prefer the original photo.

(Click photos for source)