The Infinite Art Tournament, Left Bracket Third Round Tiebreaker: Raeburn v. Vieira da Silva!

Until recently, if you'd asked which IAT artist had been in the most ties, the answer would have been "it's a tie."  But no longer.  Sir Henry Raeburn has become, and probably will remain, the King of Ties, having fought to a draw for a remarkable fourth time against Sweden's Anders Zorn.  Meanwhile, Vieira da Silva locked up with Tissot in another "Left Third" match, so we're ready for some tie-breaking.  Raeburn takes on Vieira da Silva today; Zorn will try his luck against Tissot on Thursday.  Who will win?  Us, my friends: us, the art enthusiasts.

Meanwhile, for the good of the order: the matter of Sisley v. van Ruisdael is struggling a bit to make quorum, as sometimes happens with matches that launch during the Christmas season. If you haven't registered your preference there, remember: YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

---

Sir Henry Raeburn
1756 - 1823
British

• Walloped Jacopo Della Quercia in Round 1.
• Lost to Pierre-Paul Prud'hon in Round 2.
• Beat Jacopo Pontormo in the Left Bracket Second Round.
• Locked in a tie with Ljubov Popova in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Tied with Lorenzo Ghiberti in a Left Bracket Second Round Elimination Tiebreak match that failed to break its tie. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Deadlocked again, this time with Renoir, in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Blew past Marie Laurencin, finally, in another go at Left Bracket Second Round Elimination.
• Tied with Anders Zorn in the Left Bracket Third Round.

---

Maria Elena Vieira da Silva
1908 - 1992
Portuguese; worked in France

• Defeated Andrea del Verrocchio in Round 1.
• Lost to Vermeer in Round 2.
• Beat Paolo Uccello in the Left Bracket Second Round by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Kitagawa Utamaro in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination.
• Tied with James Tissot in her first try at the Left Bracket Third Round.

----

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, Left Bracket Third Round: de Vlaminck v. Waterhouse!

---

Maurice de Vlaminck
1876 - 1958
French

• Defeated Simon Vouet in Round 1.
• Lost to M.C. Escher in Round 2.
• Made it past Alfred Wallis in the Left Bracket Second Round by a safe margin.
• Defeated Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, again, in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination.

---

John William Waterhouse
1849 - 1917
English

• Beat Antoine Watteau decisively in Round 1.
• Fended off Carel Weight in Round 2.
• Lost to Rogier Van der Weyden 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. Polls open for at least one month past posting.

The Infinite Art Tournament, Left Bracket Third Round: Whistler v. Vuillard!

---

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.

---

Édouard Vuillard
1868 - 1940
French

• Trounced Edward Wadsworth in Round 1.
• Defeated American Andy Warhol in Round 2.
• Lost to M. C. Escher 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. Polls open for at least one month past posting.

The Infinite Art Tournament Left Bracket Second-Round Elimination semi-tiebreak: Sluter v. Duchamp!

This is the second half of the "semi-tiebreak" duo that started last Thursday. These two are vying for the chance to take on Lord Leighton in the Third Round.

---

Claus Sluter
1380ish - 1405
Dutch; worked in France.

• Pounded by Michiel Sittow in Round 1.
• Beat the 20th Century's David Alfaro Siqueiros in First Round Elimination.
• Trounced Paula Modersohn-Becker in the Left Bracket Second Round by a safe margin.
• Tied with Rubens in the Left Bracket Second Round. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

---

Marcel Duchamp
1887 - 1968
French

• Tied with Raoul Dufy in his first try at the First Round, back in January 2013. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Trounced by Velázquez in Round 1.
• Beat Francesco Zuccarelli in First Round Elimination by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Victor Vasarely in the Left Bracket Second Round by another single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS AGAIN!!!

---

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.

Round 5: Ely v. Matisse

---

"Semifinals" designates the Fourth to Seventh Rounds of the Infinite Art Tournament.  This is a Fifth Round Match.  It pits Timothy Ely (4-0, 38-20, .655) against Henri Matisse (4-0, 39-17, .696). They beat Haeckel and Metsu, respectively.

---

Timothy Ely
born 1949
American

Timothy C. Ely is an renowned and enigmatic figure in the book world. He is part of that discipline, yet lives and works in a universe apart. His one-of-kind manuscript books combine elaborate and often mysterious painted and drawn folios contained within finely crafted bindings, which are his inventions or variations on traditional binding techniques. Each book carries layers of both materials and meaning. Close study of each drawing can elicit revelations, personal to each viewer.

- Abby Schoolman Books

• Took First Place in Phase 1, Flight 7, with a voting score of .813.
• Tied for First in Phase 2, Flight 5 of the Play-In Tournament with a voting score of .500.
• Laid a beating on William Dobson in Round 1.
• Surprised Man Ray in Round 2.
• Upset Édouard Manet in Round 3 by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat fellow Play-In Tournament artist Ernst Haeckel in Round 4.

---

Henri Matisse
1869 - 1954
French

Matisse is commonly regarded, along with Picasso and Marcel Duchamp, as one of the three artists who helped to define the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the opening decades of the 20th century, responsible for significant developments in painting and sculpture. Although he was initially labelled a Fauve (wild beast), by the 1920s he was increasingly hailed as an upholder of the classical tradition in French painting. His mastery of the expressive language of colour and drawing, displayed in a body of work spanning over a half-century, won him recognition as a leading figure in modern art.

-HenriMatisse.org

• Crushed Chilean Roberto Matta in Round 1.
• Crushed fifteenth century German Hans Memling in Round 2.
• Beat Quentin Massys in Round 3. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!
• Beat Gabriel Metsu in Round 4 by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

---

The Infinite Art Tournament Left Bracket Second-Round Elimination semi-tiebreak: Rubens v. Zurbarán!

It's time again to invoke that one rule, the one that says that any unresolved ties at the end of a bracket can be played off against the artists who would otherwise be in the final match of that bracket.  It turns out that, like so much else in the Infinite Art Tournament, this rule is... "imperfect," let's say.  The problem is that -- but, actually, who cares!  Let's just vote on some art!

This match and a companion match coming soon resolve a tie between Rubens and Sluter by pitting them against Zurbarán and Duchamp, who otherwise would have formed the final pair in Second Round Elimination.  The winner of today's match will win the right to take on Sodoma in Round Three.

---

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!!!

---

Francisco de Zurbarán
1598 - 1664
Spanish

• Beat Francesco Zuccarelli easily in Round 1.
• Lost to Diego de Silva y Velázquez in Round 2 by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Crushed Johann Zoffany in the Left Bracket Second Round.

---

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 Left Bracket Third-Round Elimination: Orozco v. Oldenburg!

Orozco and Oldenburg are the guys who punched Bryan Organ's ticket on his way out the Tournament.  They both beat him by an 9-4 margin, which on the face of it would make you think, hmm, they must be fairly evenly matched.  But then when Orozco and Oldenburg went head to head in the Second Round, Orozco won fairly easily.  Of course, that was way back in December 2015, and we've all had a couple of years to develop our aesthetic sophistication in the intervening time.  Orozco would be foolish to try and coast this round.
 

---

José Clemente Orozco
1883 - 1949
Mexican

• Defeated Bryan Organ in Round 1.
• Beat Claes Oldenburg in Round 2.
• Lost to Giovanni Paolo Pannini in Round 3 by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Escaped Yves Tanguy in the Left Bracket Third Round by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!

---

Claes Oldenburg
Born 1929
Swedish-born American

• Walloped Orcagna in Round 1.
• Lost to José Clemente Orozco in Round 2.
• Made it past Parmigianino in the Left Bracket Second Round by a safe margin.
• Beat portraitist Bryan Organ in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination.
• Beat Ben Nicholson in the Left Bracket Third Round.

----

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.