The Chess Game

The rarity and importance of so large a genre painting as The Chess Game by an eminent member of Australia's nineteenth century artistic elite cannot be overstated. In 1878, the year in which this work was executed, the twenty-seven year old Ashton arrived in Melbourne from his native England. "Australian art history continually gives credit to Julian Ashton for his importance as a teacher and for his life long promotion of Australian art (and for) his constant vigilance for opportunities to further the cause of art in his adopted country (which meant) that he undoubtedly contributed to the development of an Australian school. ...But it is easy to forget what his contemporaries saw is quite different". (D Dysart, Julian Ashton, Sydney, 1982. p.3)