"Dinosaurs Chess" Lithograph by Deborah Garber

In this 1979 lithograph, Deborah Garber creates an unexpected scene where dinosaurs engage in a chess game, blending the animal kingdom's wildness with the chessboard's strict rules. The checkerboard pattern, traditionally a symbol of strategy and calculation, becomes the stage for an organic tension, where dinosaurs are no longer just apparitions or aesthetic forms but the living essence of a game frozen and dramatic.

The composition is finely balanced: In the foreground, the monumental silhouette of a diplodocus commands the scene, its presence offset by the possible motion of more menacing creatures in the background. Garber does not draw; she sculpts each figure and builds a vision. Finely hatched shading adds volume and texture to their thick, scaly skin. Light variations create depth, making the dinosaurs rise like fossil imprints awakening from stone, their massive bodies sharply defined against the chessboard. The shifting balance of shadows—sometimes precise, sometimes diffuse—intensifies their unreality, wavering between material presence and spectral vision.

More than a scientific reconstruction, this work belongs to a vision evocative of M.C. Escher or Giorgio de Chirico, where perspective follows an internal logic rather than a tangible reality. Between contemplation and unease, the chessboard opens a path beyond the duality of good and evil, suggesting that these concepts exist only within human perception.

- B I O -

Garber picked up her first piece of chalk as a child and never let go. The lush woodlands and rolling hills of her native Illinois were the sparks that ignited her love of nature in all its moods and forms. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she studied printmaking and illustration, Garber sought experience in life and art in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. She lived out of a suitcase for five years, toting a Spartan assortment of pastels. She stayed in the city or countryside just long enough to absorb the spirit of the place through the local language, customs, and landscape, supporting herself through political cartooning, courtroom illustration, window design, and translation. Seeking to feed a lifelong interest in languages and other cultures, Garber has also attended the University of Michigan, Sorbonne University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, City College of San Francisco, and Santa Rosa Junior College, pursuing studies in French, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, Italian, Cantonese and Russian.
Upon her return to the United States, Garber continued to build an extensive body of work and an artistic reputation through competitions, exhibitions, gallery representation, and teaching. Her pastels, oils, and prints are included in the collections of numerous private individuals, museums, and corporations.
Pastel has been her primary medium for many years, though she periodically puts away her pastels and gets out her oil paints, alternating between the two mediums. In a departure from her usual materials, she is currently tackling the medium of mosaics.

REFERENCE NUMBER: LU654315727512
PERIOD: 1970-1979
CONDITION: Good
MEASUREMENTS: Height: 20.75" Width: 20.75" Depth: 0.75"
COUNT: 1
MATERIAL: Lithograph
CREATOR: Deborah Garber