ARTS 1101 - Quiz 1

Idealism

Artistic representation of forms according to a concept of perfection and an accepted standard of beauty.

Impressionism

What style or creative movement is this associated with:

Surrealism

A style of art focused on fantastical forms in which the imagery stems from unconscious, irrational sources, often rendered with extraordinary realism.

Impressionism

A style of artistic representation in which artists attempted to duplicate the dramatic, fleeting effects of light and atmosphere with short brush strokes, pure and varied color, and a lack of realistic representation.

Naturalism

Artistic representation that strives to imitate nature rather than to express intellectual theory.

Shiva - The Hindu god of creation and destruction Venus - The Roman goddess of beauty and love Ganesh - The Hindu god of knowledge, wisdom, and wealth

Match each of the following gods and goddesses with their corresponding descriptions:

The dog - symbolizes fidelity (or loyalty) The oranges on the windowsill - symbolizes victory over death Giovanni's bare feet - symbolize the holiness of the ground St. Margaret finial on the bedpost - symbolizes childbirth and domesticity

Match each of the following iconographic symbols within Jan van Eyck's Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride (pictured below) with what they could possibly represent according to the textbook:

True

T/F? Avant-garde is French for "advance guard," and refers to the leaders in new and unconventional creative movements.

True

T/F? Constantin Brancusi's Bird in Space (pictured below) is an abstract work of art which reached for the essence of the subject by offering the simplest contour that, along with the descriptive title, would fire recognition of the subject in those viewing the artwork.

True

T/F? Frida Kahlo was born to a Mexican mother and a German father, and her mixed heritage was often the centerpiece of the iconography used in her paintings, as can be seen her work The Two Fridas (pictured below).

False

T/F? Gustave Courbet and Edouard Manet are two artists whose art style can be described as Academic art.

True

T/F? In his painting Noah's Ark (pictured below), Aaron Douglas translated a biblical story into an artwork that speaks to African American sensibilities by rendering the figures as African men, creating a work that takes possession of and personalizes the biblical event for Douglas' race and culture.

True

T/F? Though the ancient Romans derived much of their art styles from that of ancient Greece, their portrait sculpture was uniquely Italian in its realism, such as the Head of a Roman portrait bust which is not idealized.

Realism

The artistic replication of objects and people as they are seen by the eye or as they are really thought to be, without distortion or perfection based on standards of beauty.

Style

The distinctive characteristics of an artist's work and those of a culture or era - the way in which an artist handles the materials and the elements of art.

Content

The intangible aspects, or the underlying meaning or themes, of a work of art - the symbolic, intellectual, emotional, and psychological elements that are communicated.

Iconography

The study of themes and symbols - images that are deciphered to reveal the underlying meaning of a work of art.

Subject

The themes or objects that are depicted in a work of art - the things, people, events, places, and ideas that are represented

Medium

What an artwork is made out of - the materials and tools used to create a work of art.

Harlem Renaissance

What style or creative movement is this associated with:

Nonobjective art

What style or creative movement is this associated with:

Surrealism

What style or creative movement is this associated with:

Classical art

What time period is this associated with:

Neolithic art

What time period is this associated with:

Paleolithic art

What time period is this associated with:

Renaissance art

What time period is this associated with:

The Impressionists studied the dramatic effects of atmosphere and light on people and objects, and attempted to duplicate these effects on canvas. The name of the Impressionist movement was coined by a hostile art critic, and was intended to malign the work of these artists. The Impressionists all reacted against the constraints of the Academic style and subject matter. The Impressionists duplicated the glimmering effect of light bouncing off the surface of an object by applying paint in short, choppy brush strokes. The Impressionists advocated painting outdoors and chose to render subjects found in nature.

Which of the following are true of the Impressionist movement and the characteristics of Impressionism?

Many Classical Greek sculptures, such as The Three Goddesses from the pediment of the Parthenon, include not only realistic bodies, poses, and gestures, but also realistic draping and folding of fabric that followed the contours of the flesh. Ancient Greek culture has had a far-reaching, lasting influence on Western art and civilization, and can be seen reflected in the revival of Greek art and culture during the Renaissance of the 15th century, the Neoclassical period of the 1700s, and even today in the U.S. through Greek Revival architectural styles. One of the most significant developments in early Classical art was the introduction of implied movement in figurative sculptures. The key elements of Greek art and architecture are humanism, rationalism, naturalism, and idealism. Greek's cultural influence was assimilated by the Romans, who conquered Greece but admired their culture and styles, and the spirit of Hellenism lived on throughout the days of the Roman Empire.

Which of the following statements are true of Classical art, especially that of the Greeks?

According to some art historians, Manet is the artist most responsible for changing the course of the history of painting. One of the most shocking and alarming elements of Manet's Luncheon on the Grass was that there is no explanation for the behavior of the picnickers - the public was used to paintings of nudes, but not of ordinary citizens displayed on such a grand scale. Manet's paintings are considered avant-garde, but he would often mimic traditional Renaissance artworks, such as his Olympia mimicking the Renaissance Venus of Urbino, and his Luncheon on the Grass group of figures deriving from The Judgment of Paris.

Which of the following statements are true of Edouard Manet and his paintings?

The Neolithic period is the "New Stone Age," during which stone was still a primary material for art, tools, and weapons, but clay pottery and metal tools and weapons also began to arise. Life became more stable and predictable during the Neolithic period, as settled communities began to be formed and thus significant architectural monuments (such as Stonehenge) began to appear. The Neolithic period is when agriculture began, as people domesticated plants and animals and began producing their food instead of relying solely on hunting

Which of the following statements are true of Neolithic art and the Neolithic period?

The Paleolithic period refers to the "Old Stone Age," referring to tools and weapons that were created from stone during this time. Examples of Paleolithic artworks are cave paintings, such as those found at the Lascaux caves, and Venus figurines, such as the Venus of Willendorf. Peoples of the Paleolithic period were hunters, and hunting provided the main food source.

Which of the following statements are true of Paleolithic art and the Paleolithic period?

Polykleitos idealized the athletic figure in this sculpture by imposing on it a set of laws relating each of the parts to one another, such as the how the entire body is exactly equal in height to eight heads. This sculpture reflects the ancient Greek ideal of beauty through order, harmony, and perfection, and is based on precise mathematical formulas for representing the ideal human form. Using the weight-shift principle, or contrapposto, Polykleitos harmoniously balanced the opposing parts of this sculpture with vertical lines of stability and diagonal lines of movement.

Which of the following statements are true of Polykleitos' Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer) sculpture (pictured below)?

Some of the iconography that is typically included in artistic depictions of Ganesh include: prayer beads, a lotus flower, a seashell, an ax, a mace, a noose, and sometimes Ganesh is depicted as dancing upon a mouse. Ganesh is worshiped as the god of knowledge, wisdom, and wealth, and is considered to be the Lord of Success, destroyer of evils and obstacles. In artwork, Ganesh is always visualized as a man with a pot belly, an elephant head, one tusk (the other is broken), and multiple (usually 4) arms. Ganesh is the son of Shiva, the most powerful of the Hindu deities, and Parvati, the goddess of power who gives energy to all beings.

Which of the following statements are true of the Hindu god Ganesh, and artistic representations of him?

The Renaissance was a revival of Classical traditions, which in the visual arts included a return to the realistic depiction of nature based on keen observation. The Renaissance, which spans roughly the 14th through the 16th centuries, is seen by some as the beginning of modern history. Renaissance is a French word meaning "rebirth," referring to the rebirth of European culture after the feudal culture of the Middle Ages. Because the word renaissance generally refers to the artistic and cultural revival of Classical sources, some art historians no longer use it to describe northern art of this period, which differed quite a bit from southern (especially Italian) art.

Which of the following statements are true of the Renaissance period and Renaissance art?

Augustus is dressed in military parade armor, proclaiming a diplomatic victory with a strong and authoritative pose. This sculpture reflects a joining of the pure realism of Roman portrait busts with the Greek concept of idealism. Augustus' pose in this sculpture is reminiscent of the ancient Greek sculpture Doryphoros.

Which of the following statements are true of the ancient Roman sculpture, the Augustus of Primaporta (pictured below)?

Courbet attempted to quickly jot down his impressions of a scene in an often spontaneous flurry of strokes, and in fact both he and Edouard Manet are considered to be painters who stood "on the threshold" of the Impressionist movement. Courbet is considered to be the "father" of the Realist movement in art, which depicted subjects from everyday life instead of the idealized or mythological subjects of Academic art. The Stone-Breakers was an object of public derision, not only for the common subject matter but also because of Courbet's coarsely textured painting technique.

Which of the following statements is true of Gustave Courbet and his famous (now destroyed) painting, The Stone-Breakers (pictured below)?