Left Bracket Fifth Round: Rockwell v. Raphael!

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This Left Bracket Fifth Round match pairs Norman Rockwell (5-1, 54-19, .740) against Raphael (4-1, 36-19, .655).  Rockwell arrived by way of a narrow win over over Berthe Morisot, and Raphael from a loss to Patenier. 

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Norman Rockwell
1894 - 1978
American

Rockwell was a careful craftsman with an ability to represent detail realistically. The subjects of most of his illustrations were taken from everyday family and small-town life and were often treated with a touch of humour. Though loved by the public, Rockwell’s work was dismissed by most critics as lacking artistic merit and authentic social observation.

- Encyclopedia Britannica

• Placed Third in Phase 1, Flight 5, with a voting score of .538.
• Placed Second in Phase 2, Flight 3, with a voting score of .500.
• Crushed Arthur Dove in Round 1.
  
• Walloped the Master of Moulins in Round 2.
• Blasted Alphonse Mucha in Round 3.
• Lost to Claude Monet in Round 4 by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Mopped the floor with Claes Oldenburg in the Left Bracket Fourth Round.
• Beat Berthe Morisot in Left Bracket Fourth Round Elimination by a two-vote swing. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

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Raphael
1483 - 1520
Italian

It would be impossible to say which artist is the greatest painter of portraits, but many would award the palm to Raphael.  He had that combination of qualities that the portrait painter needs: a keen awareness of the sitter's personality -- an insight into what makes the sitter "tick" -- combined with the great painterly skills that can create forms and colors, that of themselves alone would give us pleasure.

- Sister Wendy's 1000 Masterpieces

• Defeated Allan Ramsay in Round 1.
• Beat Modigliani in Round 2.
• Trounced Paula Rego in Round 3.
• Got past Pierre-Paul Prud'hon in the Fourth Round.
• Upset by Patenier in Round 5.

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Left Bracket Fourth Round Elimination: Klimt v. Kandinsky!

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In this here Left Bracket Fourth Round Elimination Match, Gustav Klimt (6-1, 60-23, .723) takes on Wassily Kandinsky (4-1-1, 43-23, .652). In getting to this round, they knocked Georges de La Tour (3-2, 37-25, .597) and Frantisek Kupka (4-2-1, 42-35, .545), respectively, right out of the Tournament.

Klimt has impressive stats going into the match, but he has lost to Paul Klee, who tied up with Kandinsky when they crossed Tournament paths.  What will happen is, the artist who gets the most votes will win!

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Gustav Klimt
1862 - 1918
Austrian

• Beat Franz Kline black and blue, mostly black, in Round 1.
• Lost badly to Paul Klee in Round 2.
• Crushed Pierre Bonnard in the Left Bracket Second Round.
• Beat Franz Kline black and blue, again, in a Left Bracket Second Round Elimination Grudge Match.
• Beat sculptor Anish Kapoor in the Left Bracket Third Round.
• Defeated Banksy in Left Bracket Third Round Elimination.
• Beat Georges de La Tour decisively in the Left Bracket Fourth Round.

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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.
• Lost to Thomas Hart Benton in Round 4 by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Frantisek Kupka in the Left Bracket Fourth Round.

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Left Bracket Fourth Round Elimination: Seurat v. Rubens!

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This Left Bracket Fourth Round Elimination Match pits Georges Seurat (5-1, 45-24, .652) against Peter Paul Rubens (6-1-2, 68-35, .660). They have knocked Stanley Spencer (3-2, 38-23, .623) and Kurt Schwitters (3-2, 31-29, .517), respectively, out of the Tournament.

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Georges Seurat
1859 - 1891
French

• Defeated Gino Severini in Round 1.
• Trounced Richard Serra in Round 2.
• Lost to Charles Sheeler in Round 3 by a two-vote swing. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Jan van Scorel soundly in the Left Bracket Third Round.
• Beat Egon Schiele in Left Bracket Third Round Elimination.
• Beat Sir Stanley Spencer in the Left Bracket Fourth Round.

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Sir Peter Paul Rubens
1577 - 1640
Flemish

• Crushed Théodore Rousseau in Round 1.
• Tied with Henri Rousseau in Round 2. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Lost to Estonia's Michiel Sittow in the Round 2 Tiebreaker. It was a single-vote margin! YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Bridget Riley in the Left Bracket Second Round.
• Tied with Claus Sluter in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Francisco de Zurbarán in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination by a two-vote swing -- YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Sodoma easily in the Left Bracket Third Round.
• Beat Léon Spilliaert, Belgian's other famous painter, in Left Bracket Third Round Elimination.
• Mopped the floor with Kurt Schwitters in the Left Bracket Fourth Round.

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Left Bracket Round Four: Velázquez v. Van der Weyden!

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This Left Bracket Fourth Round Match is between Diego de Silva y Velázquez (4-1, 33-21, .611) and Rogier Van der Weyden (3-1, 30-21, .588). Quentin Massys (3-2-1, 37-37, .500) leaves us after losing big to Velázquez.

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Diego de Silva y Velázquez
1599 - 1660
Spanish

• Tied with Victor Vasarely in his first try at the First Round.
• Defeated Marcel Duchamp in the final match of Round 1.
• Beat Francisco de Zurbarán in Round 2 by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Lost to Michelangelo in Round 3.
• Crept past Wright of Derby by a single vote in the Left Bracket Third Round. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Quentin Massys in Left Bracket Third Round Elimination by a lot!

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Rogier Van der Weyden
1399ish - 1464
Dutch

• Came from behind to beat Benjamin West in Round 1.
• Came from way behind to take down Whistler in Round 2.
• Beat John William Waterhouse easily in Round 3.
• Lost to M. C. Escher in Round 4.

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Left Bracket Round Four: Whistler v. Wyeth!

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This All-American Left Bracket Fourth Round Match is between James Whistler (5-1, 55-28, .663) and Andrew Wyeth (3-1, 49-12, .803). Leaving the Tournament is Maurice de Vlaminck (4-2, 48-46, .514), who fell to Whistler in a close match.

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James Abbot McNeill Whistler
1834 - 1903
American; worked in Britain

• Defeated Sir David Wilkie in Round 1.
• Lost to Rogier Van der Weyden in Round 2, but there's no shame in that.
• Crushed Antoine Watteau in the Left Bracket Second Round.
• Defeated Sir David Wilkie, again, in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination.
• Beat Édouard Vuillard in the Left Bracket Third Round.
• Beat Maurice de Vlaminck in Left Bracket Third Round Elimination by a two-vote swing. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

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Andrew Wyeth
1917 - 2009
American

• Defeated Jack Butler Yeats in Round 1.
• Crushed fellow American Grant Wood in Round 2.
• Trounced Frederic Leighton in Round 3.
• Lost to Michelangelo by a single vote in Round 4. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

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