Peter Ganine

Peter Ganine (October 11, 1900 – August 11, 1974) was a Russian-American sculptor best known for his work in ceramics and his chess sets.

Contents

• Duck Bath
• Gothic Heads Chessmen Ganine Design Stone Cast Set AncientChesscom
• Personal life
• Works
• Exhibitions
• References

Ganine began his art studies in Russia. He spent five years as a trader in the Belgian Congo before coming to the US in 1931, on a scholarship to Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. He settled in Hollywood in 1932, where he lived until his death. His work was championed by longtime Los Angeles Times art editor and critic Arthur Millier.

He served as an aircraft patternmaker during World War II.

The subjects of Ganine's sculptures were largely people or animals. He patented many of his animal sculptures, which were then reproduced in plastic and sold inexpensively. His most popular designs were a whale, which won a prize from the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, and an "uncapsizeable duck", of which over 50,000,000 were sold. When Ganine gave human faces to chess pieces, he introduced "first major change of design for chess sets in more than a century."