The third match of the Fourth Round of the Infinite Art Tournament is a battle of household names! Botticelli has run up more votes than any previous fourth-rounder -- 36 in his favor to 12 against -- but now he's up against Pieter Breugel, who has cumulative 41-6 vote count. How could either artist possibly lose? Yet only one can advance....
Sandro Botticelli
1445 - 1510
Florentine
- Beat Colombian Fernando Botero in an amazing come-from-behind victory in Round 1.
- Made short work of 18th century France's François Boucher in Round 2.
- Disposed of Aussie Arthur Boyd in Round 3.
Pieter Bruegel (the Elder)
c.1525 - 1569
Dutch
- Trounced his own son, Jan Bruegel the Elder, in Round 1.
- Won easily against living artist Daniel Buren in Round 2.
- Scorched respectable Victorian Ford Maddox Brown in Round 3.
Vote for the artist of your choice in the comments, or any other way that works for you. Commentary and links to additional work are welcome. Fourth-round matches are open for at least three months after posting.
15 comments:
Botticelli, please.
If I hadn't been told that Botticelli was famous, I would have thought he was just some generic old painter. None of his stuff really sticks out to me! On the other hand, Bruegel's paintings have a mood and a visual style that I very much like. They are very different from each other too - the failings of wax, a great feast, a hunt above an idyllic and quaint village, a pickpocket and a cynic, and a rest after a day's harvest. Botticelli's, on the other hand: naked people hangin' out, naked people hangin' out, religious scene, religious scene, what I guess is a religious scene.
Also, Bruegel has better trees. Did I mention that I'm a sucker for paintings with trees?
A very emphatic vote for Pieter Bruegel.
Tough one. Pieter Bruegel (the Elder).
Well, Botticelli is of course great and did many famous things like ''The Birth of Venus'', and I like ''Venus and Mars''. But this isn't a tough choice for me: I'm a Bruegel guy. Bruegel, Bruegel, Bruegel!
Also, that last Bruegel with the guy ploughing is an old favorite of mine—it's on the cover of a book I've had for a long time. Yet it still always surprises me when I look it up and discover (again and again) that it is titled ''Landscape with the Fall of Icarus''. My eye is always drawn to the lovely shadows on the ploughed furrows and I assume the plough guy is the main subject.
Also, not shown here is the fabulous ''Tower of Babel'', http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brueghel-tower-of-babel.jpg
I'm for Brueghel. I like the guy in the hooded cloak.
You know, I mentioned in the last round that I didn't quite get all the Bruegel love. Well, I think I'm starting to. The details, the stories. the variety... all make for a deserving top 64. But this Botticelli guy (who I also didn't take to at first blush- I'm evolving Michael!), he is something else. Particularly those last two- they're practically glowing! So, yes, my vote is for Botticelli to advance to the thrilling 32. But I will not be disappointed if Bruegel gets there instead.
"Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" nearly changed my mind, but I'm going to stick with Botticelli here. But like Chuckdaddy, I cannot say I would be disappointed in either outcome.
Bruegel, but like many others here, I like them both quite a bit.
I love both these artists. I have known I would vote for Bruegel--with his social inclusiveness being the deciding factor, that idea that the work and pleasures of common people are worthy subjects for art. (I can imagine him as a damned good writer of fiction.) Also probably because a print of Hunters in the Snow hung in the hall of my elementary school, and it is so very fabulous and close to my heart.
That choice made, I will pause to admire the exquisite choreography of Botticelli's visions. How he makes the gods human and people divine! How he anchors an annunciation in architecture, and spins a nativity into celestial dance. May he live long and prosper in the left-hand bracket.
Two painters of infinite skill and intellectual depth, one treating of God and gods, one of women and men. How could I possibly vote against the supreme graciousness of that enunciation, or the course sprawling of the farmhand at harvest-time?? How can I vote against the meaty furrows of earth in the Fall of Icarus or the distant villages out beyond the returning hunters -- but, how can I vote against the angel in green on the roof of the nativity, or the lovely frank sexuality of Venus and Mars?? I knew that this tournament would eventually break my heart, and eventually is now.
Bruegel.
A postal vote for Bruegel -- "emphatic, but yes, hard also."
I have to go with Botticelli here, but it's not Bruegel's fault.
Bruegel. Yeah.
Even though Elizabeth said please nicely, it's Bruegel who wins the vote count. By nine to four, we've sent him into the semis, and Mr. Botticelli into the Left Brackets.
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