Saturday, July 13, 2019

Infinite Art Tournament Penultimate Match: van Gogh v. Sargent



Vincent van Gogh and John Singer Sargent were both painters, were roughly the same age, and have two more things in common: they are both resented by Jan Vermeer, whose two losses came at their hands, and they both resent provisional champion Pete Brughel the Elder, who handed each of them their single defeats.

This is the 1089th match of the Infinite Art Tournament, and also the second-to-last.  The winner clinches the silver and earns a rematch against Provisional Pieter for one last shot at the GOAT!!!


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











John Singer Sargent
1856 - 1925
American
Although Sargent painted, showed, and won praise for both portraits and subject pictures at the Salons between 1877 and 1882, commissions for portraits increasingly demanded his attention and defined his reputation. Sargent’s best-known portrait, Madame X, which he undertook without a commission, enlisted a palette and brushwork derived from Velázquez; a profile view that recalls Titian; and an unmodulated treatment of the face and figure inspired by the style of Édouard Manet and Japanese prints. The picture’s novelty and quality notwithstanding, it was a succès de scandale in the 1884 Salon, provoking criticism for Sargent’s indifference to conventions of pose, modeling, and treatment of space, even twenty years after Manet’s pioneering efforts.
- The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
  • Beat Juan Sánchez Cotán easily despite crowd support in Round 1.
  • Skunked Roelandt Savery in Round 2.
  • Skunked Dutch still-life master Rachel Ruysch in Round 3.
  • Crushed Henri Rousseau in Round 4 by a two-vote swing.
  • Encountered some resistance, but prevailed, against Rembrandt in Round 5.
  • Scorched Charles Sheeler in Round 6.
  • Beat Vermeer in Round 7
  • Beat Leonardo da Vinci in Round 8
  • Lost to Brughel in Round 9.









11 comments:

Alexandra said...

John Singer Sargent

Morgan said...

There are quite a few artists that I would pick as deserving of the finals: it turns out there's a bunch of good visual art! I count all three of those remaining as among these. So, and I'm sure this is the case for most of your voters, this is a tough round for me to make a decision, as will be the next one.

I will swing John Singer Sargent. The one with the lanterns is particularly wonderful.

Unwiseowl said...

As much as I enjoy Sargent's use of Shadows, it's gotta be Van Gogh for me.

Candida said...

Dang, dude. Rough match! But when it comes down to the vote, I'm Team Van Gogh too.

Michael5000 said...

Three for van Gogh so far, two for Sargent.

boonec1974 said...

Can van Gogh all the way?

Nichim said...

I'm Team Sargent here, but I'd take Remedios Varo over either of them.

mrs.5000 said...

They're both awesome, but I'll go Van Gogh.

Michael5000 said...

So, for me, we've got my favorite painting in the bottom set, but for actually changing the way that I perceive the world visually, I pretty much have to hand my vote to Mr. Van Gogh.

Michael5000 said...

Susan votes for van Gogh by mail.

Michael5000 said...

John Singer Sargent takes 5 votes and the title of Third Greatest Arist of All Time. That's pretty good! But Vincent van Gogh takes 9 votes, clinches 2nd place, and wins the chance for a rematch with Pieter Bruegel in the IAT Championship!