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News & ArtsThursday, January 17, 2013
Visual Art / Games Masterpiece: The Art Auction Game by Parker Brothers
Posted by Jen Graves on Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 3:07 PM
- GOLD IN MY MAILBOX Harlequin sweater! Schoolmarm! Bewigged Goldie Hawn! Ascot! Blurry lumpen proletariat! (The man on the left is wearing a monocle and inspecting a Renoir.)
This just arrived in my Stranger mailbox, sent to me out of the blue by an old colleague and friend from The News Tribune (bless you, Sean R.). I'm recruiting people in the office to play it with me today when Mudede strolls right up and announces he used to play it all the time as a child. He also used to play Monopoly.
"I just played to win," he announced.
Who will win when we play it here? I shall report back. As for me, I've never seen the game before. The description on the box says:
Your favorite Rembrandt is on the block and you are bidding for it against a dazzling array of eccentric art speculators. Should you go even higher? What if it's a worthless forgery? You'll find out when you play Masterpiece, an exciting, suspenseful trip into the elite world of the international art auction.
What other Stranger writers should be in this lineup of eccentric art speculators? The game is for 3 to 6 players. So far, it's Mudede, Paul, and me.
41
Still have this from my childhood...and it's even more fun (at least as an adult) if you add a house rule that everyone has to role-play their character. (For yet more fun, add another that the characters have to be randomly drawn at the beginning of the game.)
40
I had the 1970 version. I never knew there were other versions! I'm going to Ebay them all and combine them!
39
Mudede has to be Dietrich von Oberlitzer. For Dominic Holden, it's a tough call between Count Francois and V. Elton Whitehall, but I don't want to impose gender roles.
Note to strategists: It's all about the poker face. Bluff on the forgeries.
Note to strategists: It's all about the poker face. Bluff on the forgeries.
34
A friend of mine from grad school gave this to me a few years ago, because we were both going to school for art history and it made sense. She went to the trouble of hunting it down on eBay. One of the best birthday gifts I've ever received.
33
@ 29, is there a Mona Lisa in the Hermitage, too? Maybe one in the Vancouver Art Gallery? Maybe those will impress you more than the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.
29
Sadly, the Mona Lisa in the Louvre was never that good in real life. Not in the 70s or circa 1997-2002.
I've always been underwhelmed by it.
I've always been underwhelmed by it.
28
@5 and 9: I didn't realize there was an earlier version. Weird though. The one I picked up on ebay is dated 1970, but still has all the works I remember from TAIC. We used to run around the museum on field trips looking for our favorite paintings.
I had a huge crush on Velazquez's John the Baptist.
I had a huge crush on Velazquez's John the Baptist.
25
If it's a "worthless forgery", shouldn't you be able to sue the hell out of the auction house for misrepresentation?
24
I used to play this game with my cousins. I inherited it and moved it with me dozens of times until so many cards were lost that it was impossible to play. Has it been re-released? That would be rad.
22
You're lucky I'm not there: I would go so Milicent Friendly on your asses, you wouldn't know what hit you.
21
I love that game so much that I tracked one down not long ago and it's in our games closet. Since it takes at least three players, we generally don't have enough people to play, but I'm glad I have it.
20
I used to love this game. Probably the same 1976 edition. Not sure if it was the Canadian edition, though.
19
I played the '76 edition. It's still in my parent's house, but it hasn't been touched in years.
My favorite 70's board game - though distinctly lower brow - was "The Sinking of the Titanic." The game play had two stages: running around the ship as it sinks rescuing passengers, and then the lifeboat phase. We wore that game out.
My favorite 70's board game - though distinctly lower brow - was "The Sinking of the Titanic." The game play had two stages: running around the ship as it sinks rescuing passengers, and then the lifeboat phase. We wore that game out.
18
Never heard of it...the same way you looked blankly at the Etch A Sketch in the lunch room no doubt, comrade.
Quick. Who won the world's series in 1998?
17
My family played this game, too. Definitely the Chicago version - it included "American Gothic," which puzzled me as to why it was considered a "masterpiece" at the time. Yes, I was a six year old art critic.
16
Oooooh, I think I have that in my closet, next to my old Clue game and Chutes and Ladders. Loved playing that as a kid.
14
My family must have had the 1976 version as well. It was fun to go to the Art Institute as a young adult and find the paintings from the game.
My sister and I were not allowed to play when we were very young. The game was too grown-up apparently -- though really it's a simple game. By the time we were old enough, the rest of the family had lost interest so we just played against each other and she kicked my ass most of the time.
My sister and I were not allowed to play when we were very young. The game was too grown-up apparently -- though really it's a simple game. By the time we were old enough, the rest of the family had lost interest so we just played against each other and she kicked my ass most of the time.
13
@7 - Yes. I still have a copy of Twixt, and could probably acquire one of the others without a lot of trouble. But then I still have my ancient copies of TUF and TUF-ABET.
And I had the 1976 version of Masterpiece as a kid - played it to death with family members and friends at any opportunity.
And I had the 1976 version of Masterpiece as a kid - played it to death with family members and friends at any opportunity.
12
We had this game (among many) when I was growing up. A lot of fun as I recall but I haven't played in years.
11
The traditional role of business executives has been to manage, to produce, to sell, to create jobs, to make profits, to improve the standard of living, to be community leaders, to serve on charitable and educational boards, and generally to be good citizens. They have performed these tasks very well indeed.
But they have shown little stomach for hard-nose contest with their critics.
But they have shown little stomach for hard-nose contest with their critics.
10
@1, I didn't remember them being Art Institute works. Wiki to the rescue: the version I played was the earlier 1970, in which the works were all from the National Gallery in London. Wiki also has this gem detail:
In 1999, while playing Masterpiece, a man from Indiana noticed that the cheap painting he used to cover a hole in his wall bore a striking resemblance to a painting by Martin Johnson Heade featured in the game. It was later discovered that this was a previously unknown work by Heade, Magnolias on Gold Velvet Cloth, and it was purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for $1.25 million in 1999.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterpiece…
9
@7, we are old. And I am older than @1, who played the 1976 edition; mine was from 1970, and had different paintings, from the National Gallery in London.
Any of you board game dorks ever play "Twixt" or "Contigo" or "Quinto" or any of the other 3M Bookshelf Series?
Any of you board game dorks ever play "Twixt" or "Contigo" or "Quinto" or any of the other 3M Bookshelf Series?
8
Both my GF and I played this as kids as well. And her childhood game is sitting in my closet at this very moment. Played it as an adult for the first time about a year ago and had a blast. Much hilarity ensued.
7
I'm amazed that four out of five commenters on this thread have played this game. I never heard of it before this morning.
If any of you seasoned art speculators have any hot tips for strategy: pconstant@thestranger.com.
If any of you seasoned art speculators have any hot tips for strategy: pconstant@thestranger.com.
5
@1, I played it too - such a classy feeling to be a ten-year-old nosepicker wheeling and dealing art.
3
Wow. I had that game as a kid and absolutely loved it (although I had forgotten all about it until this moment). As I recall, there was one painting, of a woman and a child in a garden, that we all fought to own (maybe a Monet?). I'm jealous and may have to go looking on Ebay.
1
Have fun, it's an awesome board game. Used to play all the time as a kid and bought my own on ebay. All artworks are (or were) owned by the Art Institute of Chicago.
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