3.8: The Modern Aesthetic: Manet in 1863 to the American Scene in the 1930s
1. Alexandre Cabanel’s Birth of Venus is an example of a(n) ________ painting.
a. Academic d. Cubist
b. Impressionist e. none of the other answers
c. Renaissance
2. What aspects of Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass) discomfited
many viewers when it was first exhibited?
a. the painting technique
b. the nude woman seated next to men dressed in contemporary clothing
c. the fact that the woman looks out at the viewer
d. all of the previous answers
e. none of the previous answers
3. Which painting was included in the first Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Rejected)?
a. Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe (Luncheon on the Grass)
b. Jean–Honoré Fragonard’s The Swing
c. Jacques-Louis David’s The Oath of the Horatii
d. Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night
e. all of these paintings were in this exhibition
4. What role did photography play for the artist Thomas Eakins?
a. he used photography instead of painting
b. he despised photography as “lazy”
c. he used photography to study anatomy and proportion
d. he had never heard of photography
e. he made photographs into collages
5. Which of the following are qualities of most Impressionist artists and their paintings?
a. they rejected the traditional values of the Academy
b. they evoked the sensations of everyday life
c. they painted outdoors and captured natural light
d. their brushstrokes were visible and paintings appeared unfinished
e. all of the other answers
6. A painting by which artist provoked the comment by a critic that gave the Impressionists their
name?
a. Gustave Caillebotte d. Claude Monet
b. Edgar Degas e. none of the other answers
c. Édouard Manet
7. Impressionist artworks were influenced by both photography and Japanese prints. Select a work by
Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, or Edgar Degas, and describe how the artist’s composition has
similarities to photography and Japanese prints.
8. European cities, such as Paris, became increasingly industrialized in the nineteenth century. Select
three Impressionist artworks. Discuss the evidence of modern life and city living that is present in
these works. How has each artist treated this subject? Do some artists seem to embrace this subject
more than others?
9. A critic praised Monet’s work Impression, Sunrise by saying it had given a viewer such clarity of
thought and purpose that he ran out of the gallery and immediately began writing a novel.
10. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette ________.
a. is serious in tone
b. depicts only the upper classes
c. uses sharp, clean lines
d. depicts a new, urban, middle class enjoying their leisure time
e. none of the other answers
11. Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s Moulin de la Galette is set ________.
a. in a local swimming pool d. in a dress shop
b. at an outdoor café e. on board a cruise ship
c. at a train station
12. Who painted Paris Street: Rainy Day?
a. Gustave Caillebotte d. Odilon Redon
b. Edgar Degas e. Pierre-Auguste Renoir
c. Claude Monet
13. Paris Street: Rainy Day demonstrates:
a. the loneliness of the city
b. the new construction of the streets and buildings
c. the artist’s knowledge of perspective
d. all of the previous answers
e. none of the previous answers
14. Auguste Rodin’s The Kiss was ________.
a. designed for the Gates of Hell
b. based on the story of Paolo and Francesca in Dante’s Divine Comedy
c. made into several copies
d. all of the previous answers
e. none of the previous answers
15. Auguste Rodin was told by a government official that he should put clothes on his overly
sexualized figures in The Kiss.
16. Camille Claudel’s sculpture The Waltz received some criticism for being too ________.
a. ugly d. boring
b. brightly colored e. politicized
c. erotic
17. Camille Claudel was a model for Auguste Rodin, and later became his much-loved second wife.
18. What role did photography play for the artist Edgar Degas?
a. he abandoned painting to become a photographer
b. he used it along with other mediums
c. he secretly painted over the top of photographs
d. he died before photography was invented
e. none of the other answers
19. Which of the following influenced Degas’s Blue Dancers?
a. Japanese art d. Korean food
b. African art e. architectural design
c. Chinese performance
20. Edgar Degas was fascinated by observing ballet dancers, both in practice and during performances.
21. Edgar Degas was very selective with his subjects; he depicted only people from the upper classes.
22. Who repeatedly painted studies of the mountain he had seen throughout his childhood and later
observed from his studio window?
a. Paul Cézanne d. Vincent van Gogh
b. Gustave Courbet e. none of the other answers
c. Paul Gauguin
23. Paul Cézanne used ________ in his work Mont Sainte-Victoire.
a. no discernable perspective
b. one-point perspective
c. two-point perspective
d. atmospheric perspective
e. artists did not know how to do perspective at that time
24. Paul Gauguin’s The Vision after the Sermon is a realist artwork.
25. Paul Gauguin liked to paint subjects from modern, industrial cities.
26. Vincent van Gogh used thick swirls of paint in his work Starry Night. This technique is called
________.
a. chiaroscuro d. intaglio
b. atmospheric painting e. symbolism
c. impasto
27. Vincent van Gogh committed suicide by bleeding to death after slicing off his left ear.
28. Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin were good friends, and even shared a house for a time. Do
some research to find out more about their friendship. Select one or two artworks by each artist to
compare and contrast. How similar are the artists’ works? What are their individual stylistic traits?
Do you think a knowledge of their personal life and friendship is valuable when evaluating their
work?
29. Which of these artists created a dreamlike painting of a sleeping gypsy?
a. Artemisia Gentileschi d. Vincent van Gogh
b. Henri Rousseau e. none of the other answers
c. Vasily Kandinsky
30. Henri Rousseau carefully studied the details of the anatomy of a lion in a local zoo in order to
portray the animal as accurately as he could in his painting The Sleeping Gypsy.
31. Symbolist painters are inspired by emotions and dreamlike images.
32. ________ made a Symbolist version of Judith with Holofernes’s head.
a. Mary Cassatt d. Gustav Klimt
b. Berthe Morisot e. all of the other answers
c. Camille Claudel
33. Gustav Klimt’s work Judith I features:
a. gold leaf d. flattened figures
b. an element of danger e. all of the other answers
c. decorative patterning
34. Gustav Klimt’s Judith I was made in direct response to an artwork of the same subject by Baroque
artist Artemisia Gentileschi.
35. Art Nouveau is a style that emphasized decorative patterns and organic forms.
36. Theophile-Alexandre Steinlen was known for ________.
a. owning a cabaret
b. inventing abstraction
c. making posters to promote nightclub performances
d. designing the Eiffel Tower
e. none of the other answers
37. The design of Tournée du Chat Noir de Rodolphe Salis is an example of ________ design.
a. Impressionist d. Art Nouveau
b. Fauvist e. Cubist
c. Art Deco
38. The Eiffel Tower was made ________.
a. to welcome visitors to a World Fair
b. for conducting radio waves across Paris
c. to be a symbol of wealth
d. to remind viewers of the past
e. none of the other answers
39. What is the medium of the Eiffel Tower
a. wood d. wool
b. marble e. cast iron
c. steel
40. The Eiffel Tower was adored by all Parisians when it was first built because it was seen as a
continuation of the artistic traditions of France.
41. The Eiffel Tower was built for the World’s Fair in 1889, with the intention that it later be torn
down.
42. The Eiffel Tower was named for the person who designed it.
Match the term with its definition:
a. application of thick paint d. painting outdoors
b. forms derived from living organisms e. end of the century
c. seen from above
43. en plein air
44. fin de siècle
45. impasto
46. bird’s-eye view
47. organic
Match the quotation with the artist who made the statement:
a. “I did not create a woman, I made a picture.”
b. “I enjoyed looking at it, just as I enjoy looking at the flames dancing in the fireplace.”
c. “I cannot work without a model . . . I exaggerate . . . but I do not invent the whole picture.”
d. “I shut my eyes in order to see.”
48. Paul Gauguin
49. Henri Matisse
50. Marcel Duchamp
51. Vincent van Gogh
52. Twentieth-century artists continued the explorations in representation started by the Impressionists
and Post-Impressionists.
53. Artwork in the modern period can be ________.
a. representational d. all of the previous answers
b. abstract e. none of the previous answers
c. non-objective
54. The colors of the bodies and trees in Matisse’s Joy of Life are ________.
a. completely naturalistic
b. based on what the artist saw, but exaggerated
c. strictly from the artist’s dreams
d. based on a movie the artist saw
e. copied from another famous artwork
55. In Matisse’s Joy of Life the artist is emphasizing ________.
a. the jarring nature of the social and political events of his day
b. his academic training in realistic representation
c. a leisurely day in a landscape with music and dancing
d. the darkness of the attic room of his childhood home
e. his favorite fishing hole and the scenery around it
ANS: C DIF: Level 1 REF: The Revolution of Color and Form: Henri
Matisse
56. Matisse’s The Red Studio includes:
a. a scene showing the artist’s kitchen
b. a seaside view out of a window in Collioure
c. a café with a bar and pool table at night
d. paintings, sculptures, and ceramics the artist had made
e. all of the other answers
57. Which of the following tools or materials was the main one Matisse used to make his cutouts?
a. scissors d. masking tape
b. charcoal e. hair clippers
c. oil paint
58. Matisse used his cutouts ________.
a. as preparatory sketches, never as finished artworks
b. as finished artworks, never as preparatory sketches
c. sometimes as preparatory sketches, sometimes as finished artworks
d. Matisse only made cutouts
e. Matisse never made cutouts
59. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was revolutionary because:
a. it is not a naturalistic re-creation of the way we see the world
b. it includes simplified forms and bodies as geometric shapes
c. the space of the background and foreground meld together
d. it shows frontal and profile views at the same time
e. all of the other answers
60. Pablo Picasso challenged traditional notions of the subject matter and appearance of fine art
painting by emphasizing underlying geometric form and the construction of pictorial space.
61. Picasso was influenced by art objects from ________ in his creation of Les Demoiselles
d’Avignon.
a. Africa d. Austria
b. India e. New York
c. Australia
62. Pablo Picasso made Girl before a Mirror ________.
a. when he was in grade school, before he became an artist
b. at the beginning of his career, when he was studying art
c. at the height of his career, when he was inspired by his mistress
d. later in his career, when he was learning to use photography
e. near the end of his career, when he was revisiting old themes
63. How does Georges Braque’s Houses at L’Estaque relate to the scene it represents?
a. it looks exactly like it
b. it is an abstraction based on nature
c. it looks nothing like it
d. there was no scene being represented
e. all of the other answers
64. Georges Braque’s Houses at L’Estaque is part of which movement?
a. Expressionism d. Minimalism
b. Futurism e. Postmodernism
c. Cubism
65. Juan Gris’s Bottle of Banyuls includes an actual ________ as part of the composition.
a. lemon d. bottle cap
b. bottle label e. menu
c. table top
66. The technique used to make Juan Gris’s Glass and Bottle of Banyuls is ________.
a. silkscreen d. photomontage
b. assemblage e. readymade
c. collage
67. Portrait of Gertrude Stein was made by which artist?
a. Henri Matisse d. Georges Seurat
b. Georges Braque e. Marcel Duchamp
c. Pablo Picasso
68. Gertrude Stein held informal meetings in her apartment for artists and writers. These were known
as ________.
a. salons d. Artists’ Anonymous
b. coffee mornings e. Cubism Club
c. gossip groups
69. Consider the relationship between the collector and patron Gertrude Stein and the artists she knew,
for example Picasso. How important a role did Stein have in the avant-garde art made in the
twentieth century? Compare the patron–artist roles occupied by Stein and Picasso to those of a
historical pairing, such as Philip IV of Spain and Velázquez, or Charles IV and Goya. For each
pair, describe the balance of power and influence between patron and artist.
70. Expressionism focuses on:
a. what is felt rather than what is seen
b. the subconscious mind and dream imagery
c. dynamic movement, progress, and modern technology
d. stripping away emotions and underlying meaning
e. complexity, ambiguity, and external references
71. Paula Modersohn-Becker’s Self-Portrait with Camellia is part of which movement?
a. Fauvism d. Abstract Expressionism
b. Expressionism e. all of the other answers
c. Cubism
72. In her Self-Portrait with Camellia, Paula Modersohn-Becker used ________.
a. flattened forms d. reduced details
b. solid geometry e. all of the other answers
c. heavy outlines
73. Vasily Kandinsky’s Improvisation #30 (Cannons) was inspired by ________.
a. talk of war just before World War I began
b. cannons firing during World War II
c. the bombing of the Twin Towers on September 11
d. thoughts of all the future wars that might occur
e. the desire to wreak havoc on all of the institutions of the art world
74. Vasily Kandinsky, the artist of Improvisation #30 (Cannons), believed ________.
a. all art museums and libraries should be destroyed
b. artists took themselves too seriously
c. emphasis on an artist’s creativity should be minimized
d. art should express an inner spiritual necessity
e. everyone should be required to serve their country
75. Potsdamer Platz was made by Vasily Kandinsky.
76. Potsdamer Platz is part of the ________ movement as seen ________.
a. Cubist . . . in the painting’s geometric treatment of forms
b. Expressionist . . . in the painting’s intentionally raw and aggressive intensity
c. Dada . . . in the painting’s use of found objects
d. Conceptual . . . in the artist’s burning of the painting at its first exhibition
e. Pop art . . . in the painting’s use of commercial imagery
77. The Dada performance of “Karawane” was:
a. a serious elegy on the death and destruction of the war
b. a harsh indictment of hatred, injustice, and oppression
c. a lively, theatrical performance of nonsense words and sounds
d. a lazy attempt to make an artwork by reciting poetry
e. none of the other answers
78. The Dada performance of “Karawane” doesn’t make sense because ________.
a. the artist’s original intentions were never recorded
b. it was part of a movement that devalued logical thinking
c. there were too many artists involved in one artwork
d. multiple copies have been made and no one knows for sure which one is real
e. none of the other answers
79. Marcel Duchamp’s Bicycle Wheel is an example of ________.
a. a silkscreen print d. a photomontage
b. an automatic drawing e. a readymade
c. a collage
80. Marcel Duchamp’s original Bicycle Wheel was lost, which ________.
a. was devastating because it had belonged to the artist’s grandfather
b. was shocking because it was so carefully guarded
c. was a relief because the artist himself had stolen it
d. was fine because the artist could just buy another one
e. none of the other answers
81. What innovation in art was Marcel Duchamp not responsible for?
a. readymades d. kinetic sculptures
b. conceptual art e. none of the other answers
c. photomontage
82. John Heartfield’s Have No Fear, He’s a Vegetarian is an example of ________.
a. silkscreen d. photomontage
b. assemblage e. readymade
c. collage
83. John Heartfield, the artist of Have No Fear, He’s a Vegetarian, ________.
a. had to flee Germany to escape arrest and persecution
b. remained anonymous due to the political nature of his work
c. worked hard as a Nazi supporter
d. was a good friend of Hitler and a practical joker
e. none of the other answers
84. A dreamlike environment is created in Giorgio De Chirico’s The Melancholy and Mystery of the
Street by:
a. the unclear narrative
b. the looming shadow around the corner
c. the gradations of colors in the sky
d. the fact that the girl in the foreground is herself is a shadow
e. all of the other answers
85. The work of Giorgio De Chirico is characteristically ambiguous. Choose one of his paintings,
either the example in the textbook or another you can find, and suggest an explanation for what he
has depicted. Consider the motivations of any figures in the piece, but also suggest how the artist’s
use of the elements and principles of art may give clues about meaning to the viewer. Remember,
art is subjective, so also think about what the symbols in the piece say to you.
86. Giorgio De Chirico was one of the younger members of the Surrealist movement.
87. Max Ernst used different methods to ________.
a. make the most expensive art he could
b. liberate the human imagination
c. balance musical composition and visual art perfectly
d. be able to sleep and make art at the same time
e. none of the other answers
88. Which of the following statements best relates to Max Ernst’s Surrealism and Painting?
a. strongly detailed realism is the most rewarding possibility as a means for making art
b. it can be liberating when the imagination wanders in the mysterious realm of creativity
c. the less abstract the better when it comes to depictions of artists in their studio
d. it is important for every artwork one makes to have a clearly identifiable meaning
e. all of the other answers
89. The artist who in 1936 created an assemblage entitled Object is ________.
a. Max Ernst d. Joan Miró
b. Marcel Duchamp e. Joseph Cornell
c. Jackson Pollock
90. The collection of items in the assemblage entitled Object ________.
a. has a clearly identifiable meaning
b. refers to magic
c. is the result of the artist’s afternoon in a toy store
d. tells a tale of a Nordic watchman
e. is ultimately mysterious
91. The medium of Umberto Boccioni’s Unique Forms of Continuity in Space is ________.
a. plaster d. copper
b. bronze e. marble
c. gold
92. The artist of Unique Forms of Continuity in Space ________ the art movements and traditions of
the past.
a. directly followed d. wanted to leave behind
b. revered e. none of the other answers
c. wanted to improve
93. Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 was ________ the Armory Show in 1913.
a. well received by viewers at d. destroyed during
b. left out of e. none of the other answers
c. seen as scandalous by viewers at
94. Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 was shocking because of the nudity it
contained.
95. Piet Mondrian was a founder of which movement?
a. Cubism d. Constructivism
b. Suprematism e. Minimalism
c. De Stijl
96. Piet Mondrian wanted to make artwork that appealed to ________.
a. the mind d. the market
b. the senses e. all of the other answers
c. the masses
97. Kazimir Malevich was part of which movement?
a. Cubism d. Constructivism
b. Suprematism e. Minimalism
c. De Stijl
98. Most of Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist works look like paintings, but they are actually Cubist
collages.
99. The medium of Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematist Painting (White on White) is:
a. bronze sculpture d. painted wood relief
b. collaged paper e. none of the other answers
c. oil on canvas
100. How does Constantin Brancusi’s Bird in Space distill the vital qualities of a bird?
a. by showing a flock of birds flying south for the winter
b. because the artist covered its surface with feathers
c. by reminding us of bird or feather shapes or the soaring quality of flight
d. by floating above the viewer
e. because it is accompanied by an audio recording of bird song
101. The title of Constantin Brancusi’s Bird in Space is a visual description of the sculpture, which
looks exactly like a bird in space.
102. The American Scene was:
a. inspired by the harsh realities of the Great Depression
b. America’s first movement focused on abstraction
c. a technique created by collaging US publications
d. a group of expatriates living in Paris
e. a mural made in the heart of New Orleans
103. The art of the American Scene was divided into several branches, one of which was realistic and
the other abstract.
104. Grant Wood’s American Gothic is ________.
a. so small it has to be looked at with a microscope
b. so big that the viewer has to walk around it to take it all in
c. lifesize, to fool the viewer into thinking he or she is looking at reality
d. intended to make fun of small-town America
e. meant to reflect the American values of individuality, morality, and hard work
105. Grant Wood chose subjects that:
a. viewers could hardly recognize
b. could easily be confused with Gothic cathedrals
c. reflected his experience in Midwestern America
d. expressed the fun and feverish lifestyles of modern Europe
e. were trained in non-Western sculptural practice
106. What is the medium of Aaron Douglas’s Aspects of Negro American Life: From Slavery to
Reconstruction?
a. silkscreen d. photomontage
b. assemblage e. oil on canvas
c. collage
107. Aaron Douglas, the artist of Aspects of Negro American Life: From Slavery to Reconstruction, was
particularly influenced by which of the following?
a. Minimalism, Polaroid cameras, and classical music
b. Art Deco, Egyptian wall painting, African art, and Modernist abstraction
c. Italian Renaissance art, yo-yos, and gardening magazines
d. Afro-Cuban dance, metal spatulas, and Where the Wild Things Are
e. none of the other answers
108. Aaron Douglas’s Aspects of Negro American Life: From Slavery to Reconstruction includes:
a. readymades d. jazz music
b. silhouettes e. none of the other answers
c. collage
109. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) paid such artists as Aaron Douglas to make art.