There are moments that hold far more than meets the eye. Moments where time seems to pause, not because someone asked, but because it must. Wednesday, July 10, 2019, was one of those moments. Niso Adut, founder and heart of NISO, arrived at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem with his family and close team to receive a title that isn’t granted by federations or world rankings, but by the world of culture and design itself: Grandmaster.

The occasion? Chess. But not the kind you play quietly with a cup of tea. This was chess on a grand scale—three by three meters, with each piece a sculptural creation in its own right: forms covered in genuine leather on all sides, with precise stitching, hidden joints, and a level of craftsmanship hard to believe was done entirely by hand. The installation, presented as part of a centennial exhibition honoring the Bauhaus movement, didn’t just catch the eye, it captured the heart.

Close-up of the bishop and knight, showing the handcrafted leather stitching in every detail.

When Design Becomes Part of the Game

The inspiration came from an iconic figure of the Bauhaus: artist Josef Hartwig. In 1923, Hartwig designed a chess set in which each piece reflects, through its form, the way it moves across the board. It wasn’t just a visual gesture, it was a philosophy. Total abstraction, where movement informs shape. Niso took that principle and built a new, material, tangible world around it.

The king, for example, is a large cube resting on another cube, two stacked forms emphasizing its weight and gravity. The queen was given a perfect sphere atop a square base, granting her both grace and stature. The pawns are simple, matching cubes. The bishop is shaped as an X, and the knight, always the trickster—has a top that echoes the letter “R,” sitting on a body that defies traditional geometry. Just like a knight’s move always defies expectations.

Each piece was cut, stitched, and hand-covered in leather. Every element rests on a subtle 45-degree bevel—no screws, no visible seams. Even the board itself, also made of leather, was covered with flawless precision—no misalignments, and here too, no visible stitching.

Original Chess Set by Josef Hartwig, 1923, Germany.

Bauhaus. Niso. And Everything In Between

The Bauhaus movement, founded in Germany in 1919, transformed the way the world thinks about design. It was born from a belief that aesthetics should serve function, not hide it. Circles, squares, straight lines, basic shapes became a universal language. Tables, chairs, lamps—everyday objects were reimagined through a lens of clarity, logic, and material integrity.

That same language lives in the work of NISO. It’s no coincidence that the lines we return to again and again are those same lines: straight and curved, simple but smart. When we design a table, a sideboard, or a lounge chair, the goal isn’t to embellish, it’s to clarify. To create something with structure, comfort, and intent.

Niso Adut beside the museum wall text written about him at the Israel Museum, as part of the Bauhaus centennial exhibition.

Where Form Meets Mastery

This installation wasn’t just a tribute to Bauhaus—it was also a deeply personal statement about one of the fields in which Niso has become a true master: leather cladding. Over the years, he developed a unique, almost secret method for working with leather, clean, precise, seamless coverage based on a deep understanding of material, line, and structure. Since that day, leather work has become not just part of the NISO identity—it’s a signature craft. And there’s something beautiful in that: when a client today chooses a table, bench, or accessory clad in leather, they’re not just choosing a material. They’re choosing a tradition, a method, and a skill born from a rare creative moment. One might even say, without too much drama—a grandmaster has already left his mark.

What Makes an Artist a Grandmaster?

Niso may not have studied at the Bauhaus, but in every meaningful way, he earned the degree. Anyone who knows his path knows: he’s been creating for five decades, sculpting, upholstering, joining, testing, refining, designing. Always with his hands. Always with intention. This piece, shown at the museum, was yet another high point in a rich career. A moment where a creation wasn’t just viewed, it was acknowledged. Not just as an aesthetic object, but as culture, as memory, as a modern translation of a century-old vision.

And it’s no coincidence that it happened at an exhibition about Bauhaus, because the place where Niso works, even after all these years, is exactly that crossroads: between material and idea, between art and design, between motion and home.

Niso with his sons, Lion and Yossi, the second generation of Niso Furniture, sharing a proud moment on the chess pieces he created.