Saturday, February 6, 2016

The Infinite Art Tournament, Round FOUR: Ely v. Haeckel!


Some funny things happened on the way to this month's Fourth Round match.  The oldest pair of open Third Round matches were Benton/Lotto and Goldsworthy/Magritte, but there's no point in advancing them because the left bracket is already congested by a tie in that area.  The next oldest pair was Massys/Matisse and Metsu/Michaelangelo, but -- check this out -- Metsu and Michaelangelo have fought to a tie themselves!  So that brings us to the current match, brought to you by two close-fought art-historical upsets: Haeckel defeating Franz Marc, and Tim Ely upsetting Manet.  Never a dull moment!



Timothy Ely
born 1949
American
  • 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!!!







Ernst Haeckel
1834 - 1919
German









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.

14 comments:

Christine M. said...

Ely

boonec1974 said...

A misguided scientist happening to create incredible art (at least that's my interpretation of his Wikipedia entry)? Not a fan of his science-based racism, but man could Haeckel draw a squid.

Alex said...

Ely

Morgan said...

Not really a huge fan of either, although they both have their charming points. This is a surprise for a right-bracket 4th round! I'll swing Ely, I think, while anticipating a vote for the lower member of this pair's 5th round matchup.

pfly said...

Ooh, interesting and difficult matchup for me. My love of maps and made-up writing makes me want to go with Ely. But Haeckel has meant more to me over the years. I can't abandon him here. Haeckel is it.

Ben said...

I like 'em both, but I'm going with Ely, because, you know... bike parts!

DrSchnell said...

Ely, but both are awesome!

gl. said...

Ely!

Unknown said...

This is my toughest matchup yet, but I've got to say Ely, because text.

Michael5000 said...

Susan says "Haeckel -- Glad to have another chance to vote for him."

mrs.5000 said...

Oh, a worthy match! I'll go with Ely, in part because I think invented science is more clearly art than observed science.

Candida said...

This is a really tough matchup for me because both painters share traits that I admire a lot--attention to detail, a celebration of the beauty in the real (or realistic), a desire to show something about (a or the) world. But I think that while I want to sit down with Ely's work, what intrigues me are the intellectual questions, not the art, so I'm going to vote for Haeckel here.

Michael5000 said...

Such an interesting couple to have come this far. I'll go with Ely myself, but it's a tough match.

Michael5000 said...

Well, the voting seems to be wrapping up here, so let's call it for Mr. Ely, with nine votes against four.