Anonymity

Over the last couple of weeks I've been following - at a safe distance - an anonymous on-line art competition on the theme of the Corona Virus. But whereas the fifteen participants hid behind a cloak of secrecy those casting a vote or comment were revealed by name. Moreover, first place went to an artist painting under a pseudonym! 

I'm still trying to head my head around this. I suspect the reasoning is that you vote for the painting, not the person. In other words: the message, not the messenger. But surely, in all art forms the person and the performance are inextricably linked. I would hate for this to catch on to the extent that on visiting the National Gallery I would have to guess who painted what.

For example, many of us would know who painted this:

But I doubt if we'd know who painted this:

As different as they are, Paul Gauguin (1842-1903) painted both.