Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The Infinite Art Tournament Round Three: Bellini v. Bernini

Giovanni Bellini
1434 - 1516
Venetian

Defeated Hans Bellmer in Round 1 by a single vote.   YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!! 
Took down American George Bellows in a fair fight in Round 2.







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Gianlorenzo Bernini
1598 - 1680
Italian

Trounced German conceptual installation artist Josef Beuys in Round 1
Won a hard-fought match against American landscape artist Albert Bierstadt in Round 2.











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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. Polls open for at least one month past posting.

16 comments:

Christine M. said...

Bernini Bernini Bernini

Elizabeth said...

Bernini, no contest. Although Bellini almost got my vote because when I saw the first painting, I immediately heard "Oh, what a beautiful morning/Oh, what a beautiful day!" in my head. But Bernini is OK!

chuckdaddy said...

Bernini!

Mm Mud said...

I went Berlini-Bernini-Bernini. Something about all the action in the scupltures is captivating.

pfly said...

I think I will buck the trend and say Bellini.

Morgan said...

Bellini was kind of dull at the start of the tournament, but each painting that has been revealed has been progressively better. I'm really digging the newest one, "WHY OH WHY DID I HAVE TO GET WRITER'S BLOCK", in addition to the previous "Teaching a lion how to read".

Bernini, on the other hand, has been consistently pretty good. I feel as if I have some bias against sculptures when they're matched with paintings, but even those these are really good sculptures I can't really enjoy them on the level that I enjoy Bellini's paintings. Maybe if I saw them in person?

Eh, I still feel slightly conflicted about it, but my vote goes to Bellini.

mrs.5000 said...

Hey, I read all the Berniniites earlier, and came back to cast my lone Bellini vote, only to find I'm in good company! The St. Francis in Ecstasy/Writer's Block is I guess by now an old favorite of mine--I just love the landscape. You just know that's exactly the kind of trellis St. Francis would cobble together. And that pivotal donkey, fulcrum of foreground and background, is really just there waiting to get its ears scratched.

I too have a hard time getting excited about statues (no matter how brillantly dynamic, these are still "statues" to me), especially outside a properly 3D architectural context. But I think mostly I have more affinity for early Renaissance than for the uber-agitated Baroque.
Bellini, please!

Jenners said...

Bernini.

Michael5000 said...

It's a vote-by-email for Bellini.

Nichim said...

Bellini! Nice rocks, and a burro! Reading to lions! No ravishment! Color!

Candida said...

I love Bellini, but I'm blown away by the skill of the sculpture. Bernini had me at Sculpture #2.

Wildrover said...

Bellini was a great artist but in my opinion Bernini and Donatello were the greatest sculptors ever to have drawn breath though I hope they don't come up as a match-up! I've been to the Piazza Navona in Rome and Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers is one of those works you can look at a hundred times and still see something new each time. It has to be Bernini for me.

lamanyana said...

Bellini!

Candida said...

I consider this further evidence in support of my thesis: http://wtfarthistory.com/tagged/David

Michael5000 said...

Aw man, I never voted on this, and I come back to find the score at 7-6. I could vote Bellini and complete his amazing comeback, and it would end with a tie that would cause bracket complications, which would be awesome.

But no. Bernini is just like, wow, dude had a way with rocks. Got to go with him.

Michael5000 said...

...which of course puts Bernini over the top 8-6, heading for the Fourth Round!