CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
MID– TO LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY ART IN
EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES
31
Multiple Choice
1. What structure that was erected for the 1889 Universal Exposition was intended to be
temporary?
A. Crystal Palace
B. Paris Opéra
C. Statue of Liberty
D. Eiffel Tower
2. Which of the following were major patrons of the arts in the nineteenth century?
A. monarchs
B. workers
C. church officials
D. entrepreneurs
3. Van Gogh’s insistence on his emotional state over fidelity to nature contributed to the
development of which subsequent movement in modern art?
A. Symbolism
B. Japonisme
C. Expressionism
D. Art Nouveau
4. To emphasize the abstract nature of his paintings, James Abbott McNeill Whistler often chose
titles that were more commonly used in
A. psychology.
B. music.
C. poetry.
D. mathematics.
5. Which artist is known for producing portraits of some of Britain’s leading intellectuals?
A. Timothy O’Sullivan
B. Henry Fox Talbot
C. Julia Margaret Cameron
D. James Abbott McNeill Whistler
6. Winslow Homer employed an unadorned realism in depicting the heroic struggles of
A. African Americans.
B. the working poor.
C. soldiers in the Civil War.
D. young male athletes.
7. William Morris’s reaction against the mass production of furniture and other functional
objects was rooted in his
A. desire for his own wealth.
B. socialist concerns for industrial workers.
C. idea that art was only for the elite.
D. religious beliefs and ceremonies.
8. Which Renaissance culture influenced Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur
l’Herbe) (Fig. 31-17) and Olympia (Fig. 31-18)?
A. Venetian
B. German
C. Spanish
D. Netherlandish
9. Although associated with the Academy, Gustave Moreau’s sensuous treatment of biblical
themes served as a precursor to which art movement?
A. Neo-Impressionism
B. Symbolism
C. Impressionism
D. the Pre-Raphaelites
10. In contrast to some of the other Impressionist painters, Renoir focused on the
A. marketplace.
B. streetlight.
C. landscape.
D. figure.
11. Although artists in different countries developed their own approach to Realism, what
common interest united them?
A. a rejection of Academic standards for artistic styles and patronage
B. a desire to present an unflinching look at the lives of the working poor
C. a preference for oil painting and symmetrically balanced compositions
D. their political and religious affiliation and activist role in society
12. What impact did the suppression of the Paris Commune have on art?
A. There was a resurgence in religious art and the Romantic style.
B. Artists turned to lithography and other printed formats for social critique.
C. Overt political commentary in French art diminished.
D. Avant-garde artists produced politically charged work under pseudonyms.
13. What common denominator unifies the artists who are considered Post-Impressionists?
A. They lived in France and formally trained at an academy.
B. They experimented with form and expanded on Impressionism.
C. They rejected ancient Greek and Roman ideas and form.
D. Their work is characterized by the use of impasto.
14. What style did American-born sculptor Edmonia Lewis employ to address modern issues
such as slavery?
A. Realist
B. Symbolist
C. Impressionist
D. Neoclassical
15. What was a disadvantage of a daguerreotype?
A. The image was blurred.
B. The image would fade over time.
C. The image could not be reproduced easily.
D. The image was very dark.
16. In what way was Gustave Courbet’s The Stone Breakers (Fig. 31-12) an explicit political
statement?
A. His elevated his lower-class subject to the heroic status afforded history painting.
B. He refused to exhibit it in the Salon and wrote a manifesto criticizing the academies.
C. He rejected academic conventions to idealize the subject.
D. He depicted an actual event that spawned violent protests outside the city of Ornans.
17. What innovation seen in Auguste Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais (Fig. 31-45) signaled his
departure from established traditions of sculpture?
A. Rodin enlarged the figures’ hands and feet.
B. The figures show emotional anguish and despair.
C. Rodin suggests their pain through physical discomfort.
D. The figure grouping is placed at eye level.
18. In Degas’s The Rehearsal on Stage (Fig. 31-33), the seemingly arbitrary cropping of figures
suggests the influence of
A. synthetism.
B. historicism.
C. photography.
D. stained glass.
19. Cézanne’s professed aim of painting was to
A. “evoke a strong emotional reaction from the viewer.”
B. “create an image of pure aesthetic pleasure.”
C. “make of Impressionism something solid and durable.”
D. “capture transitory effects of light and atmosphere.”
20. The reading room at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (Fig. 31-52) demonstrates the
tendency of late nineteenth-century architects to
A. fuse a historicizing approach to form with new technologies.
B. reject the use of mass-produced and industrial materials in design.
C. explore new architectural forms that could reflect the modern world.
D. adhere to the dictum that “form ever follows function.”
21. Which artist associated with Realism in the nineteenth century found great success in the
Salon system, including receiving France’s highest award, membership in the Legion of Honor?
A. Courbet
B. Manet
C. Millet
D. Bonheur
22. What interest led Gauguin to give up his affluent lifestyle in search of simpler pleasures?
A. Japonisme
B. the primitive
C. peasants
D. anarchists
23. What did Belgian artist James Ensor frequently use in his terrifying paintings, which
combined aspects of Symbolism and Expressionism?
A. weapons
B. femme fatales
C. demons
D. masks
24. Which English tradition of landscaping did Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux rely
on in designing New York’s Central Park?
A. symmetrical
B. picturesque
C. Grand Manner
D. Academic
25. What was essential to the development of the modern skyscraper?
A. electric elevator
B. pre-cut glass panes
C. truss-and-balloon framing
D. cable car
Short Answer
1. What was the early photographic process?
2. Who was William Morris?
3. How did Manet break with conventions in his paintings?
4. What is repoussoir, and how did Cézanne use it?
5. What is Japonisme?
6. What is Orientalism?
7. What is Art Nouveau?
8. How is Central Park organized?
9. How were the first skyscrapers designed and ornamented?
10. In what ways was Henry Ossawa Tanner unlike his contemporaries in the Paris art world?
Essay
1. Compare and contrast the design and aesthetics of the Grand Staircase, Opéra, Paris (Fig. 31-
4) and the Reading Room of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (Fig. 31-52).
2. Discuss the movement of Realism. Provide examples and formal descriptions.
3. Consider Thomas Eakins’s The Gross Clinic (Fig. 31-21). How does it reflect the cultural
ideas and technological changes of the late nineteenth century?
4. Discuss the use of light in Impressionist paintings. Give examples of specific artists and their
work in your explanation of their innovative use of light and color.
5. Van Gogh’s impact on the arts has been significant and far-reaching. Explore some of his
innovations in terms of his concepts and their manifestation in his work.