Final Jeopardy: Fine Art (10-11-23)
Today’s Final Jeopardy question (10/11/2023) in the category “Fine Art” was:
An early owner of this 1889 painting full of blue & green noted how well the artist “understood the exquisite nature of flowers!”
The Champions Wild Card quarter-finals continue today with these three champs: Sam Stapleton, a college consultant from Los Gatos, CA, Robert Won, a math professor from Washington, D.C., and Karla Fossett, a senior content administrator from Saco, ME.
Round 1 Categories: State the Item – Saturday Night Live – A Van down by the River – The Californians – Surely You Joust – Take My “Y”, Please!
Sam found the first Daily Double in “The Californians” under the $800 clue on the 6th pick of the round. He was the only one on the board with $2,600. Sam made it a true Daily Double and he was RIGHT.
Whoa, this guy moved to Cali in 1852, got a near-monopoly in its railroads and founded a university? Nice. show
Sam finished in the lead with $8,600. Robert was in second with $6,600. Karla was last with $2,000. All clues were shown.
Round 2 Categories: An Immodest Proposal – Baseball Movie Haiku – Other Red, White & Blue Flags – Book Club – Grab a “B”ite – Words within Words
Sam found the first Daily Double in “Other Red, White, and Blue Flags” under the $800 clue on the 13th pick of the round. He was in the lead with $19,800, $10,000 more than Robert in second place. Sam bet $7,000 and he was RIGHT.
Samoa’s flag includes stars that represent this constellation show
Robert got the last Daily Double in “Book Club” under the $1,600 clue on the 16th pick of the round. He was in second place with $10,600, $16,600 less than Sam’s lead. Robert bet $8,000 and said the baseball diamond. That was WRONG.
A 1989 bestseller begins, “My father has asked me to be the fourth corner at” this show
Sam finished in the lead with a runaway $30,800. Karla was second with $7,600 and Robert was last with $4,600. All clues were shown.
NONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
WHAT IS “IRISES”?
Vincent Van Gogh painted “Irises” in the garden of the Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Rémy, France, in May 1889, the same month he voluntarily committed himself. He painted over 100 other works during his year-long stay at the asylum. Van Gogh died in July 1890 from a gunshot wound believed to be self-inflicted. Two years after his death, avant-garde critic Octave Mirbeau bought “Irises”. He was an early supporter of Van Gogh and the one who remarked on how well Van Gogh “understood the exquisite nature of flowers.”
The Art Newspaper has an 1897 photograph showing “Irises” hanging in Mirbeau’s dining room. At some point, Mirbeau showed his Van Goghs (he also had a version of “Sunflowers”) to Claude Monet, who said: “How could a man who has loved flowers and light so much and has rendered them so well, how could he have managed to be so unhappy?”
Robert gave a shout out to his parents. He didn’t bet anything so he stayed at $4,800.
Karla went with Monet’s “Water Lilies”. She bet and lost it all.
Sam had this joke response: “What is even happening right now?!?” He didn’t have to bet anything and he didn’t. His $30,800 runaway had already made him a semi-finalist.
2 triple stumpers from Round 2:
AN IMMODEST PROPOSAL ($1600) Mary, in 1936, I wanna make you wife number 2! I’m gonna unearth the world for you in East Africa!
BOOK CLUB ($2000) Lord Peter Wimsey frequents the Egotists’ Club in mystery stories by this woman
2 years ago: NONE of the players got this FJ in “Historic Calendars”
Following Messidor, this summer month in the 18th century French Revolutionary Calendar had a name meaning “heat gift” show
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Wow, I would hardly describe myself as an art enthusiast, but that is a beautiful painting to be sure.
Rick, the article I linked to says the irises were originally a shade of purple that Van Gogh mixed up but faded to blue over time. I thought that was interesting.
Flower paintings are sometimes just awesome. I once saw a painting of mums that had just won a big award and was selling for $600. It took my breath away and if I had the money, I would have bought it on the spot. I wonder how much it is worth now.
Well, that painting still looks awesome!
I know practically nothing about art, but I was less shocked that I knew FJ right away (1889 and blue flowers were a giveaway) than I was when no one knew it.
That said, the triple stumpers left me stumped as well.
Question: do the winners get a set amount, if anything, in addition to advancing in this never-ending tournament? I noticed tonight that the also-rans each got $5K but didn’t see a $ figure for Sam.
Howard, the winners and runners-up all get monetary prizes in the finals. They’re not showing any money for the quarter-final winners because all they win is advancing to the next round
Hmmmm……I arrived late in the game, but I still didn’t do too bad. Anyways, the FJ was a tough one to be sure. You know, during the ensuing commotion, I wasn’t even sure that Ken Jennings provided the correct response.
Ken didn’t answer it!
He most certainly did.
There was a lot of laughter going on, but Ken did say: “Well, the correct response was Van Gogh’s “Irises” and quickly went on to reveal Sam’s bet etc, so I can certainly see how some viewers didn’t catch the answer.
Robert, darn those Daily Doubles.
And we got a triple stumper since today’s final was a tough one.