That is Priceless by Steve Melcher for September 10, 2020

“The murals were the wife’s idea. I wanted striped wallpaper.”

Why do the guys in the mural seem to be having a better time than we are?

“Hey Frank, isn’t that your wife posing naked in that painting? I recognize her…um, never mind.”

Chess is a serious game. It is to be played with complete concentration, and there is to no interruptions and most especially no talking.

One look at this crew shows why they don’t even need to hang out a “NO GURLS!” sign.

“This morning Margaret was talking about women having the right to vote some day. That raises an interesting question. Should I have the old girl committed or just shove her out of a third story window?”

m fichel really liked to paint people sitting around tables – had no luck finding this painting when i googled it, but found dozens of others just like it…

I yam who i yamKind&Kinder less than a minute ago

“It’s a beknighted idea that we can’t talk about Chess Club! Gentlemen, we’ve been rooked, and I’m board. Send to the bishop to find out if the king and queen agree with this policy! After all, are we not men to decide our own rules, or are we but pawns to a higher master? Well, if I’ve come close to making a mistake by touching this subject— J’adoube! "

A painting of a painting? How meta! Thank you for pointing that out, Phillippe.

Uh …

Phillippe, distraction is not part of chess, but a good memory is. Return the King’s Rook to the board this instant or I shall be very cross.

When the fops and the poppinjays gather/there’s a surfeit of blarney and blather/ but do ladies attend ?/ No ! Why, Heaven forfend !/ Then I’m staying home, ‘cause I’d rather.

The Russian is crushin’ the Kraut/ but of that, there was never much doubt/ T’is the Poles and the Czechs/ that are risking their necks/ and they’re destined to lose – in a rout..

“What happens if you break the rule; if you talk about Chess Club?”

“Simple, you are labeled a bore and shunned by all you tell of it. It’s more of a warning than a rule.”

Yeah, we picked up that painting at a yard sale. The toughest part was getting it home in our Subaru.

As soon as the ladies join us, we’re playing Twister.

“I’d rather watch the paint dry on this mural than watch chess.”

I can just imagine the conversation that took place at the homes of these gentlemen a little before this:“Margaret, where is my wig? I am going to hang out with the boys.”“Don’t forget your burgundy coat – it matches the wallpaper so nicely.”

The first and last meeting of the Confederate Chess Historical Reenactors Club.

Hey, your horsey thing just jumped over my castle thing. I don’t think that’s how you play this game.

The club for men who like to dress in frilly pastel clothes.

We don’t have phones to distract us from this boring meeting but, hey, look, it is a giant painting!

Notice their stockings match their clothes…how droll!

It’s no so much that we don’t talk about it, you see. It’s that nobody, and I mean nobody, really wants to hear about it. How exciting can you make a description of your brilliant evasion of the Ruy Lopez opening using a modified Deferred Steinitz Variation? NO! Don’t explain it to me again! Remember Rule #1!

Waiting for the magic carpet ride.

Hey! Wouldn’t it be exciting if someone invented chess that is played on more than one level? They could call it 3 Dimensional Chess.

The baseball team called, they want their socks back.

Fun at the Fartingale Family Reunion

The family resemblance was so strong that although some of the men had different last names, there was no doubt that old Lord Fartingale had been nosing about.

You could always tell a Fartingale … you just couldn’t tell them much!

My quarter is on the table to play the winner.

“Last night at the ball, Lady Fahrquois mentioned that you always bring a Pawn to the game when a King is called for, if you know what I mean”

“Well she told me that you’ve never played a game that lasted more than 2 minutes, if you know what I mean…”

A Rococo Interior with Gentlemen Playing Chess: 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Fichel_Rokokointerieur_mit_schachspielenden_Herren_1884.jpg 

has info and links that point to info about this roughly jumbo envelope size painting.

https://www.the-athenaeum.org/people/detail.php?ID=1874 

https://www.askart.com/artist/Benjamin_Eugene_Fichel/11100606/Benjamin_Eugene_Fichel.aspx 

https://www.lempertz.com/en/catalogues/lot/1046-1/106-eugene-fichel.html 

https://prabook.com/web/eugene.fichel/2428212 

https://rehs.com/eng/default-19th20th-century-artist-bio-page/?fl_builder&artist_no=278&sold=1 

all have info, or links that point to more info, about this artist (again, if askart.com is truncated, it can be read in full for free on Fridays), perhaps in addition to what’s pointed to by the title URL. So far, 3 works by him have been used here. 

https://www.gocomics.com/that-is-priceless/2020/06/04?comments=visible 

has the prior (my comment there included the same artist info URLs, the first of which may be unresponsive, and the third of which features this painting).

Again, a larger strip image is shown by (⌘- or Ctrl-) clicking the image in Mr. Melcher’s MASTERPIECE #2532 (September 9, 2020) blog entry, accessible by the Check out the blog! box after the last comment.

Whew. Don’t these people just blather on! Now, what were you telling me about Chess Club?

The monsignor’s main job was to watch out for hanky panky, but really he wasn’t necessary.

Bravo! That is FUNNY!

the two men at table are playing footsie and the guys in background are admiring the nudes on the wall. how nice it is to have a lot of money and time.

Well … I was told this is where Putin’s wild and crazy party would be …

https://www.pri.org/stories/2011-03-08/celebrating-women-russian-style-strippers