Thursday, March 15, 2018

Round Six: Eakins v. van Gogh




Thomas Eakins
1844 - 1916
American
Thomas Eakins (1844–1916), America’s greatest, most uncompromising realist, dedicated his career to depicting the human figure—in oil and watercolor, sculpture and photography. ...Eakins was in the vanguard of young painters who would shift the focus of American art from landscape to the figural subjects favored by the European academies.
- The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
  • Crushed German pioneer Adam Elsheimer in Round 1.
  • Soundly defeated Belgian James Ensor in Round 2.
  • Racked up a strong victory on late votes against Jan Van Eyck in Round 3.
  • Beat Lyonel Feininger in Round 4.
  • Beat Caspar David Friedrich easily in Round 5.











Vincent van Gogh
1853 - 1890
Dutch; worked in France
Over the course of his decade-long career (1880–90), he produced nearly 900 paintings and more than 1,100 works on paper. Ironically, in 1890, he modestly assessed his artistic legacy as of “very secondary” importance.... By the outbreak of World War I, with the discovery of his genius by the Fauves and German Expressionists, Vincent van Gogh had already come to be regarded as a vanguard figure in the history of modern art.
- The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
  • Beat up on Hugo van der Goes in Round 1.
  • Got past Natalia Gontcharova in Round 2.
  • Gave El Greco a real drubbing in Round 3.
  • Lambasted Giotto in a Round 4 13-1 blowout.
  • Beat Atkinson Grimshaw in Round 5.







14 comments:

Christine M. said...

van Gogh

Morgan said...

Thomas Eakins. And, obviously, this is not because I think van Gogh is bad.

Chance said...

This is incredibly hard. Obviously, Van Gogh is a master. But so is Eakins. And Eakins' work is very arresting and even daring.

So I'm going to say Eakins, just because he deserves to have a wide audience.

mrs.5000 said...

I like Eakins a lot, only though I've only really noticed him for the past few years, and only learned to pronounce his name right the day before yesterday. (Apparently, it's "achin' heart" not "eek! an armadillo") But Van Gogh, he's always been there for us, yet can still startle and delight. He's got my vote.

Unknown said...

Eakins

Michael5000 said...

Susan votes van Gogh.

DrSchnell said...

Eakins

Michael5000 said...

One for van Gogh on Facebook.

boonec1974 said...

Love Eakins, but, for me, van Gogh is the best artist in this tournament.

Michael5000 said...

Oh, well, Van Gogh for me.

Nichim said...

Van Gogh, but... I don't know, there was a really great Dr. Who episode featuring Van Gogh, and if it had featured Eakins it might have been an even better episode and I might be voting for him right now.

pfly said...

van goggggh

Candida said...

Van Gogh.

Michael5000 said...

TIME'S UP! Eakins kept this one interesting through a four-four tie, but after that The Flying Dutchman racked up all five of the last votes and so moves on with another win under his belt, this one with a 9-4 margin.