Left Bracket Fifth Round Elimination GRUDGE MATCH: Goldsworthy v. Klee

---

Andy Goldworthy and Paul Klee encountered each other way back in February 2017, and Klee came out the winner by a single measly vote.  Since then, Goldworthy has won three close ones (against Fillipino Lippo, Magritte, and Matisse), Klee lost to Leonardo da Vinci and then trounced Manet, and we have all grown in our collective aesthetic judgements.  Now it's time for Goldsworthy and Klee to take on each other again -- but this time, only one will survive!  

---

Andy Goldsworthy
born 1956
British

In a diverse career spanning four decades, Andy Goldsworthy has become one of the most prominent and iconic contemporary sculptors. In photographs, sculptures, installations, and films, Goldsworthy documents his explorations of the effects of time, the relationship between humans and their natural surroundings, and the beauty in loss and regeneration. Goldsworthy’s permanent projects and ephemeral works contrast in their scale, tension, and lifetime, but are unified through their responses to the environment and his constant investigation into understanding the landscape he is in.

- Galerie Lelong & Co.

• Finished First in Phase 1, Flight 12 of the Play-In Tournament, with a voting score of .923.
• Finished First in Phase 2, Flight 4, with a voting score of .500.
• Beat contemporary Tony Cragg decisively in Round 1.
• Walloped L.S. Lowry in Round 2.
  
• Defeated René Magritte in Round 3.
• Tied with Thomas Hart Benton in his first attempt at Round 4. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Lost to Paul Klee in a Round 4 single-vote tiebreak thriller. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Filippino Lippi in the Left Bracket Fourth Round by a single vote. YOUR VOTE COUNTS AGAIN!!!
• Defeated René Magritte again -- by only a single vote, this time -- in Left Bracket Fourth Round Elimination. YOUR VOTE COUNTS YET AGAIN!!!
• Upset Henri Matisse in the Left Bracket Fifth Round.

---

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. 

- 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!!!
• Lost to Leonardo da Vinci in Round 5.
• Laid a beating on Édouard Manet in Left Bracket Round 5.

---

The Ladder of Art -- Week #4

Cast your votes for up to four of these seven artists by Christmas.  We're a little off schedule.  For clarifications, consult the Ladder of Art FAQ.

Last Week's Results

This Week's Contest

---

Chaim Soutine
1893 - 1943
Russian; worked in France

Tournament Record: Placed 496th. Lost to Sir Stanley Spencer and Nicolas de Staël. 3 votes for, 19 votes against (.158).

---

Cy Twombly
1928 - 2011
American

Tournament Record: Placed 497th (tie). Lost to J.M.W. Turner and Jean-François de Troy. 4 votes for, 20 votes against (.154).

---

Cimabue
died 1302
Florentine

Tournament Record: Placed 497th (tie). Lost to Frederick Church and Claude Lorraine. 4 votes for, 20 votes against (.154).

---

Louis François Roubiliac
1702 - 1762
French; worked in England

Tournament Record: Placed 499th (four-way tie). Lost to Henri Rousseau and Théodore Rousseau. 3 votes for, 17 votes against (.150).

• Tied for Second, Week #3

---

Charles-François Daubigny
1817 - 1878
French

Tournament Record: Placed 505th.  Lost to Salvador Dali and Aelbert Cuyp. 4 votes for, 26 votes against (.133).

•  Finished First in Week #2

---

Stefan Lochner
1442 - 1451
German

Tournament Record: Placed 507th (tie). Lost to El Lissitzky and Filippino Lippi. 3 votes for, 21 votes against (.125).

• Tied for Third, Ladder Rung #1
• Tied for Second, Ladder Rung #2
• Fourth Place, Week #3

---

Simon Vouet
1590 - 1649
French

Tournament Record: Placed 509th.  Lost to Maurice de Vlaminck and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. 2 votes for, 16 votes against (.111).

• Tied for Third, Ladder Rung #1 
• Tied for Second, Ladder Rung #2
• Tied for Second, Week #3

---

Cast up to four votes in the comments by Friday morning!

Left Bracket Fifth Round Elimination GRUDGE MATCH: Rivera v. Rembrandt

---

Slightly behind schedule due to a work thing, here's the fourth Left Bracket Fifth Round Elimination match!  Diego Rivera (7-1, 66-29, .695), who just blew Paul Signac right out of the Tournament water, is up against the well-known Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (5-1, 42-27, .609).  These two have met before, way back in August 2016, with the Dutchman coming from behind to win the day.  That gives him the edge in this grudge match: a tie will count as a win for Rembrandt.

---

Diego Rivera
1886 - 1957
Mexican

Rivera was among the leading members and founders of the Mexican Muralist movement. Deploying a style informed by disparate sources such as European modern masters and Mexico's pre-Columbian heritage, and executed in the technique of Italian fresco painting, Rivera handled major themes appropriate to the scale of his chosen art form: social inequality; the relationship of nature, industry, and technology; and the history and fate of Mexico. More than half a century after his death, Rivera is still among the most revered figures in Mexico, celebrated for both his role in the country's artistic renaissance and re-invigoration of the mural genre as well as for his outsized persona.

- The Art Story.org

• Crushed Luca Della Robbia in Round 1.
• Beat José de Ribera in Round 2 by a two-vote swing. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Lost a squeaker to some cat named Rembrandt in Round 3.
• Beat Auguste Rodin in the Left Bracket Third Round by another two-vote swing. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Renoir by just a single vote in a Left Bracket Third Round Elimination. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Defeated Henri Rousseau in the Left Bracket Fourth Round by a two-vote swing. YOUR VOTE CONTINUES TO COUNT!!!
• Trounced Alfred Sisley in Left Bracket Fourth Round Elimination.
• Slaughtered Sisnac in Left Bracket Fifth Round Elimination.

---

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn
1606 - 1669
Dutch

Rembrandt was a 17th century painter and etcher whose work came to dominate what has since been named the Dutch Golden Age. One of the most revered artists of all time, Rembrandt's greatest creative triumphs are seen in his portraits of his contemporaries, illustrations of biblical scenes and self-portraits as well as his innovative etchings and use of shadow and light.

- Biography.com

• Survived a brush with Guido Reni in Round 1 by a two-vote swing. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Beat Pierre Auguste Renoir in Round 2.
• Edged by Diego Rivera in Round 3 by a two-vote swing. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!
• Crushed Salvator Rosa in Round 4.
• Lost to John Singer Sargent in Round 5.
• Beat Rubens in Left Bracket Round 5.

---

Dark Days in the Northern Hemisphere: Tenth Anniversary Edition

This post originally appeared on this blog ten years ago today.  It is exactly as true now as it was then.

 ---

OK, this post goes out to all of you Northern Hemisphere dwellers who are affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder, or the winter blues, or who are just bummed out by finishing the day's work when it's already dark outside.

REJOICE!

For tonight's sunset -- Sunday's, that is -- will be the earliest of the year. If tomorrow, as you leave your office or classroom or factory or whatever it may be, or as you glance up after a long day of righteous labor in the home, if it seems just a tiny bit brighter than it was today -- that's 'cause it is.

But isn't the solstice still like eleven days away?

Yes, it is. But the solstice, although it is the shortest day of the year, does not have the earliest sunset or the latest sunrise. The earliest sunset comes today, and then starts creeping later. By the 21st, the sunset is getting later exactly as fast as the sunrise is getting later, and thereafter starts to outpace it. By about January 3rd, the sunrise starts creeping earlier too, and before you know it it's spring.

But Why?

It's really hard to explain. It has to do with the fact that the Earth moves faster through the arc of its orbit this time of year, when it's closer to the sun, giving the cycle of day and night a little push forward. The pattern is reversed in June and July, when we are the furthest from the sun.

Can You Elaborate?

No. I can barely keep it straight in my own head, let alone articulate it clearly. You'll just have to roll with it.

[Photo taken via Google image from the Flickr site of someone named Alice Thelma, who presumably owns the copyright. I imagine it's the same Alice Thelma who had this blog of phenomenal Portland-at-night photos.]

The Ladder of Art -- Rung #3

Cast your votes for up to four of these seven artists by Friday, December 14.  For clarifications, consult the Ladder of Art FAQ.

Last Week's Results

This Week's Contest

---

Tom Wesselmann
1931 - 2004
American

Tournament Record: Placed 499th (four-way tie). Lost to Carel Weight and Antoine Watteau. 3 votes for, 17 votes against (.150).

---

Louis François Roubiliac
1702 - 1762
French; worked in England

Tournament Record: Placed 499th (four-way tie). Lost to Henri Rousseau and Théodore Rousseau. 3 votes for, 17 votes against (.150).

---

Orcagna (Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo)
1308 - 1368
Florentine

Tournament Record: Placed 499th (four-way tie). Lost to Claes Oldenburg and Bryan Organ. 3 votes for, 17 votes against (.150).

• Tied for Second, Ladder Rung #2

---

Stefan Lochner
1442 - 1451
German

Tournament Record: Placed 507th (tie). Lost to El Lissitzky and Filippino Lippi. 3 votes for, 21 votes against (.125).

• Tied for Third, Ladder Rung #1
• Tied for Second, Ladder Rung #2

---

Domenichino
1581 - 1641
Italian

Tournament Record: Placed 507th (tie).  Lost to Donatello and Dosso Dossi. 3 votes for, 21 votes against (.125).

• Tied for First, Ladder Rung #1

---

Simon Vouet
1590 - 1649
French

Tournament Record: Placed 509th.  Lost to Maurice de Vlaminck and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. 2 votes for, 16 votes against (.111).

• Tied for Third, Ladder Rung #1 
• Tied for Second, Ladder Rung #2

---

Jack Butler Yeats
1871 - 1957
Irish

Tournament Record: Placed 512th (last).  Lost to Andrew Wyeth and Wright of Derby. 1 vote for, 19 votes against (.050).

• Tied for First, Ladder Rung #1

---

Cast up to four votes in the comments by Friday morning!