The Infinite Art Tournament, Round One: Riopelle v. van Ostade!

It's the first match of the Second Annual First Round First Week!  ...if you follow me.

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Jean-Paul Riopelle
1923 - 2002
Canadian

Tied with Bridget Riley in his first stab at the First Round.

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Adriaen van Ostade
1610 - 1685
Dutch

Tied with Sir William Orpen in his first try at Round One.
Tied with Frederic Leighton in his second try at Round One.

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Vote for the artist of your choice! Votes go in the comments. Commentary and links to additional work are welcome. Polls open for at least one month past posting.

The Infinite Art Tournament, Round Four Tiebreak Do-Over: Kandinsky v. Benton!

In the Third Thursday contest which began last week, voter Matt Reilly had the effrontery to allege that one of the images in the contest was attributed to the wrong artist.  Now, I want to make it clear that I am in no way holding Matt's little allegation against him.  Not per se.  He was merely doing what he thought was right at the time.  

Unfortunately, he was correct.

And that's why we are starting over in the Kandinsky/Benton match.  It's a DO-OVER!!  If you had already voted last week, please take a fresh look at the images before casting your new vote.

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According to plan, the third Thursday of December was to be the Fifth Round match between the winners of Leonardo/Lissitsky and Benton/Goldsworthy.  But!  The Benton/Goldsworthy match ended in a tie.  So what we're going to do today is launch (again) the first half of the tiebreaker that pits Benton and Goldsworthy against the artists in our other Round 4 tie, Kandinsky and Klee.  We'll do Klee/Goldsworthy at the regularly scheduled Round 4 spot in February, after which everything should calm down and get back to normal.

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Wassily Kandinsky
1866 - 1944
Russian; worked internationally

• Defeated Willem Kalf decisively in Round 1.
• Beat play-in photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson in Round 2.
• Beat Anish Kapoor easily in Round 3.
• Tied with his old roommate Paul Klee in his first try at Round 4.

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Thomas Hart Benton
1889 - 1975
American

• Finished First in Phase 1, Flight 10, with a voting score of .818.
• Tied for Second in Phase 2, Flight 2, with a voting score of .364.
• Survived the Phase 2 Tiebreaker.
• Beat John Robert Cozens easily in Round 1.
• Beat Richard Long easily in Round 2.
• Crushed Lorenzo Lotto in Round 3.
• Tied with Andy Goldsworthy in his first attempt at Round 4. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

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The Infinite Art Tournament, Left Bracket Third Round: Redon v. Poussin!

Odilon Redon
1840 - 1916
France

• Beat Robert Rauschenberg decisively in Round 1.
• Lost to Paula Rego in Round 2.
• Beat László Moholy-Nagy in the Left Bracket Second Round.
• Upset Amedeo Modigliani in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination by a two-vote swing.  YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

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Nicolas Poussin
1594 - 1665
French; worked in Italy

• Defeated American sculptor Hiram Powers in Round 1.
• Beat Ljubov Popova in Round 2 by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Lost to Pierre-Paul Prud'hon in Round 3.

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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. Polls open for at least one month past posting.

The Infinite Art Tournament, Round One: Spilliaert v. de Staël!

Léon Spilliaert
1881 - 1946
Belgian

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Nicolas de Staël
1914 - 1955
Russian; worked in France

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Vote for the artist of your choice! Votes go in the comments. Commentary and links to additional work are welcome. Polls open for at least one month past posting.

The Infinite Art Tournament, Round FOUR Tiebreak: Kandinsky v. Benton

Third Thursday: Bringing big names to your mid-month!

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This is an unusual Third Thursday matchup, which is perhaps appropriate given the confusion surrounding which Thursday was actually the third one of the month.  Nor is this quite a Semifinal match, although it might as well be.

According to plan, today... or perhaps last Thursday, whatever... was to be the Fifth Round match between the winners of Leonardo/Lissitsky and Benton/Goldsworthy.  But!  The Benton/Goldsworthy match ended in a tie.  So what we're going to do today is launch the first half of the tiebreaker that pits Benton and Goldsworthy against the artists in our other Round 4 tie, Kandinsky and Klee.  We'll do Klee/Goldsworthy at the regularly scheduled Round 4 spot in February, after which everything should calm down and get back to normal.

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OH NO there has been an error of misattribution!!!  Probably by me!!  And there is nothing to be done for it except, as alert amateur art historian Matt Reilly suggests in the comments, a REDO!!!  Eventually.

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The Infinite Art Tournament, Left Bracket Second Round Elimination: Rodin v. Romney!

Auguste Rodin
1840 - 1917
French

• Upset by Alexander Rodchenko in Round 1. By a single vote! YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Ousted Piet Mondrian in First Round Elimination.
• Beat James Rosenquist in the Left Bracket Second Round.

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George Romney
1734 - 1802
English

• Lost to Salvator Rosa in Round 1.
• Trounced Florentine master Cosimo Rosselli in First Round Elimination.
• Made it past Alexander Rodchenko in the Left Bracket Second Round by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

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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. Polls open for at least one month past posting, but likely much longer.

The Infinite Art Tournament, Round One: Soutine v. Spencer!

Chaim Soutine
1893 - 1943
Russian; worked in France

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Sir Stanley Spencer
1891 - 1959
British

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Vote for the artist of your choice! Votes go in the comments. Commentary and links to additional work are welcome. Polls open for at least one month past posting.

The Infinite Art Tournament, First Elimination Round #54/64

Faceoff #1: Segal v. Severini

George Segal
1924 - 2000
American

Lost to Richard Serra in Round 1.

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Gino Severini
1883 - 1966
Italian; worked in France

Lost to Georges Seurat in Round 1.

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Faceoff #2: Sherman v. Sickert

Cindy Sherman
Born 1954
American

Lost to Charles Sheeler in Round 1.

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Walter Sickert
1860 - 1942
German, worked in Britain

Beaten by Jan Siberechts in Round 1.

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Vote for the two artists of your choice! Votes generally go in the comments, but have been known to arrive by email, by postcard, or in a sealed envelope.

Please note that you may vote only once in each face-off.  Opining that both of the artists in one of the two face-offs is superior to the other is fine, but casting your votes for two artists in the same face-off is not permissible.