Saturday, March 24, 2018

Left Bracket Fifth Round: Hammershoi v. Friedrich!





This Left Bracket Fifth Round match pairs Wilhelm Hammershoi (7-1, 66-31, .680) against Caspar David Friedrich (4-1, 48-18, .727), who falls into the Left Bracket after a loss to Thomas Eakins.  Hammershoi comes off of a grudge match win over Franz Hals, who he had lost to in Round 2, way back in January 2014.  Hals finished at 4-2, 39-33, .542. 


Wilhelm Hammershoi
1864 - 1916
Danish
Hammershøi was a leading light in Denmark at the dawn of the 20th century.  Only now are we beginning to appreciate the strange beauty and individuality of his vision.  What is so remarkable about Hammershøi's work is his confidence that merely looking at a simple figure would be artistically satisfying.  He shows a daring disregard for the support of narrative, color, and contemporary relevance.
- Sister Wendy's 1000 Masterpieces







Caspar David Friedrich
1774 - 1840
German
Friedrich created a new kind of landscape painting; in his pictures landscape becomes a symbol of human feeling. The special trait of his approach to landscape is that the eye is pulled into the far distance, as the path here is lost in the farthest depths of the forest. This compositional peculiarity originates in the predominant sentiment of his period -- longing, aspiration toward the unknown and the illimitable. Nature for Friedrich is a mirror Held up to Man's soul, and it can become this because he himself has no doubts of the quintessential oneness of nature and man.
-- 20,000 Years of World Painting.
  • Wrecked Dame Elisabeth Frink's hopes in Round 1.
  • Unstrung Naum Gabo in Round 2.
  • Crushed Jean-Honoré Fragonard in Round 3.
  • Beat Artemisia Gentileschi in Round 4
  • Fell to Thomas Eakins in Round 5.






14 comments:

Unknown said...

Friedrich

Morgan said...

Hammershoi.

Hollis said...

Mr. Friedrich

Christine M. said...

Hammershoi

Chance said...

I'm sure the photos do not do the works justice, but I'm afraid my initial reaction was, "It's so hard... they're both just so boring!" But I'm going to go with Friedrich, who seems to have more than one trick up his sleeve.

DrSchnell said...

Friedrich

mrs.5000 said...

Ha! Same mood, different settings. I'll go with Friedrich, whose austere, meditative melancholy takes place at such a commanding scale.

Michael5000 said...

Neither is really my favorite, but I'll go with Friedrich, whose austere, meditative melancholy takes place at such a commanding scale, to coin a phrase.

boonec1974 said...

Friedrich

Nichim said...

Hammershoi

Michael5000 said...

Susan votes for Hammershoi.

pfly said...

I appreciate Hammershoi, but have always felt a bit meh for some reason. Friedrich it is.

Candida said...

Friedrich.

Michael5000 said...

Friedrich marches on with a 8-4 victory! He'll meet up with Artimesia Gentileschi next week for the first ever match of Fifth Round Elimination. It'll be great! Hammershoi, meanwhile, has the 7th best voting average of any artist leaving the Tournament to date -- not surprising, considering that he's the first to leave after winning an epic SEVEN matches.