The Large Glass, considered his “masterpiece” by many critics is quintessential Duchamp. Over the course of more than 20 years, he interpreted his experiences in one large accumulated work. This notion, along with the mechanics of chess (white-dark opposition, squares within a larger square, pressure, piece arrangement, annotations) led to a system–as he would’ve had it–in which the moves he played in a famous national game are interpreted through pieces that contributed to the large glass.
