Saturday, May 6, 2017

The Semi-Finals: Leonardo da Vinci v. Klee!





This is a Fifth Round Match between Leonardo da Vinci (4-0, 40-8, .833), who just beat El Lissitzky, against Paul Klee (4-0-1, 42-17, .712), who comes off a single-vote win over Andy Goldsworthy in a tiebreak match.


Leonardo da Vinci
1452 - 1519
Italian
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most intriguing personalities in the history of Western art. Trained in Florence as a painter and sculptor in the workshop of Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo is also celebrated for his scientific contributions. Leonardo’s curiosity and insatiable hunger for knowledge never left him. He was constantly observing, experimenting, and inventing, and drawing was, for him, a tool for recording his investigation of nature. Although completed works by Leonardo are few, he left a large body of drawings (almost 2,500) that record his ideas, most still gathered into notebooks. He was principally active in Florence and Milan, but spent the last years of his life in Rome and France, where he died. His genius as an artist and inventor continues to inspire artists and scientists alike centuries after his death. - The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
  • Pounded Sir Peter Lely in Round 1.
  • Skunked Stanley William Hayter in Round 2.
  • Beat the Limbourg Brothers in Round 3 by a two-vote swing. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
  • Made it easily past El Lissitzky, though many voters expressed mixed feelings in Round 4.







Paul Klee
1879 - 1940
German
Klee is known for his simple stick figures, suspended fish, moon faces, eyes, arrows, and quilts of color, which he orchestrated into fantastic and childlike yet deeply meditative works.... By 1915, he had turned his back to nature and never again painted after the model. With abstracted forms and merry symbols, he expressed the most diverse subjects drawn from his imagination, poetry, music, literature, and his reaction to the world around him . His subjects reveal his impish humor and his bent toward the fantastic and the meditative. Always preoccupied with the ring of words, titles played a major part in his work. Whether ironic, poetic, irreverent, deadpan, flippant, or—near the end of his life—melancholic, his titles set up the perspectives from which he wanted the works to be seen. - The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
  • Beat Yves Klein black and blue, mostly blue, in Round 1.
  • Knocked around the popular Gustav Klimt in Round 2.
  • Defeated Banksy without too much trouble in Round 3.
  • Tied with his old roommate Wassily Kandinsky in his first try at Round 4.  YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
  • Beat Andy Goldsworthy in the Round 4 tiebreaker by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!






15 comments:

Christine M. said...

Klee

Morgan said...

Close one. Da Vinci.

boonec1974 said...

Now this is a IAT Semifinals match! I''ll go with da number one vinci.

Elliott said...

Da Vinci.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater said...

This is the first time I have seen a Number 1 versus ad Number 16.

Da Vinci is going to dominate this. Won't even be close.

Actually, it's 4 to 1 right now. Modern Art guy just needs to hit a big 3.

DrSchnell said...

Da Vinci

Maddy said...

Paul Klee for color!

pfly said...

Oh jeez. I love Klee, but not quite enough, it turns out. da Vinci.

Michael5000 said...

If I were to be really honest to Mrs., I'd admit that Klee has grown on me a lot. But not enough to get my vote against Leonardo.

Michael5000 said...

Susan votes "Leonardo -- tho I have loved Klee since childhood & am loath to vote against him."

Candida said...

Mm. Da Vinci, after some thought.

pfly said...

Haha, well I am fond of Klee, but yea, Da man Vinci.

pfly said...

Oops, I guess I finally caught up and am now double voting. Sorry and ignore any double votes!

mrs.5000 said...

Oh, no, I must have found this one just too painful. All right, I'm going to throw one heartfelt, idiosyncratic vote for Klee, who is probably my favorite artist of the 20th century, knowing da Vinci is out ahead anyway.

Michael5000 said...

Da Vinci is out ahead anyway! In fact, he wins this match, nine votes to three, and will advance to take on... Tim Ely! You know, I've met Tim Ely. He'd probably be surprised to hear about the league he's playing in these days. Anyway, Klee? He's still with us! It will be a while before he sees action, again, as there are some hitches over on that side of the Left Bracket.