[Photo] Portrait de Marcel Duchamp jouant aux échecs
In 1924, Duchamp became a member of the Cercle rouennais d’échecs, in Rouen, his parents’ city, before joining the Groupe des joueurs d’échecs de Nice — one of the strongest teams — with which he took part in the “Paris Tournoi international amateur d’échecs” and the French championship in Strasbourg, held at the Café Broglie. It was in this café that he was again photographed, once more in front of a chessboard.
André Gomès and his wife Henriette were close to many artists, notably Miró, Picasso and Duchamp. Henriette, who had begun her career at Pierre Loeb’s gallery in 1934, married the young photographer in 1938, before opening her own gallery, which she was forced to leave during the Occupation, seized as Jewish property. Both of them joined the Resistance. After the war, the couple opened the Galerie Henriette at 6 rue du Cirque.
