CHAPTER 29—MODERNISM IN EUROPE AND AMERICA, 1900 TO 1945
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Throughout history, artists have regularly served political ends by using their art to make visual
statements. Which of the following artists has created an overtly political statement with his/her work?
a.
Dorothea Lange
b.
John Sloan
c.
Wassily Kandinsky
d.
Barbara Hepworth
2. Which of the following artists created large-scale, kinetic sculptures?
a.
Henry Moore
b.
Brancusi
c.
Alexander Calder
d.
Boccioni
3. What message did Vera Mukhina convey in her work entitled The Worker and the Collective Farm
Worker?
a.
She conveyed the horror of war
b.
She glorified the communal labor of the Soviet people
c.
She glorified urban lifestyles
d.
She showed motion through dynamic line
4. Which of the following artists developed the theory of neoplasticism or the new pure plastic art?
a.
Picasso
b.
Chagall
c.
Mondrian
d.
Marc
5. Which of the following works of art was melted down for ammunition by the Nazis in 1937?
a.
War Monument
b.
Bird in Space
c.
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space
d.
Column
6. Which of the following artists created a modern American art style combining Synthetic Cubism with
jazz tempos and his perception of the fast-paced American culture?
a.
Marsden Hartley
b.
Charles Demuth
c.
Georgia O’Keeffe
d.
Stuart Davis
7. What style is described as compositions of shapes and forms abstracted from the conventionally
conceived world?
a.
Fauvism
b.
Cubism
c.
De Styl
d.
Neoplasticism
8. The Champs de Mars or The Red Tower by Robert Delaunay depicts which of the following
structures?
a.
Eiffel Tower
b.
Tower of Babel
c.
Coit Tower
d.
Tatlin Tower
9. Which of the following is executed in the Synthetic Cubist style?
a.
The Dance
b.
Fate of the Animals
c.
Demoiselles d’Avignon
d.
Still-Life with Chair-Caning
10. Which of the following describes the focus of the Ashcan School?
a.
It focused on the horror of trench warfare in WW II.
b.
It focused on the hurley-burley activity of farm life.
c.
It focused on the bleak and seedy aspects of city life.
d.
It focused on the dynamism of the machine.
11. What message is portrayed in Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks?
a.
the pervasive loneliness of modern humans
b.
the seediness of city life
c.
the energetic rhythm of city life
d.
the cosmopolitan atmosphere of big city life
12. Thomas Hart Benton, a Regionalist artist, focused his attention on which of the following subjects?
a.
Times Square, New York
b.
the waterfront
c.
the social history of Missouri
d.
the farming landscape of the Midwest
13. Although many artists dealt with the theme of war or other societal ills, ____ believed above all in the
expressive use of color, saying that the whole arrangement of his pictures were expressive.
a.
Picasso
b.
Matisse
c.
Max Beckmann
d.
Otto Dix
14. In the artist’s eyes, the Fate of the Animals was almost a premonition of which historical event?
a.
World War II
b.
the Great Depression
c.
the Russian Revolution
d.
World War I
15. Which of the following works demonstrates the Futurists’ interest in motion?
a.
The City
b.
Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash
c.
Champs de Mars or The Red Tower
d.
The Portuguese
16. Which of the following artists was a Berlin Dadaist?
a.
Hannah Höch
b.
Barbara Hepworth
c.
Georgia O’Keeffe
d.
Frida Kahlo
17. Which of the following artists shared Stieglitz’s concern to position photography as an art form with
the same fine-art status as painting and sculpture?
a.
Dorothea Lange
b.
Georgia O’Keeffe
c.
Edward Hopper
d.
Edward Weston
18. Who is the artist who created a work of art that can be described as “a wickedly funny gift”?
a.
Edward Weston
b.
Alfred Stieglitz
c.
Man Ray
d.
Marsden Hartley
19. Her work is often described as autobiographical because of her unflinching self-portrait portrayals. She
gives the viewer a personal glimpse into herself and suffering. Which of the following artists does this
describe?
a.
Frida Kahlo
b.
Hannah Höch
c.
Georgia O’Keeffe
d.
Dorothea Lange
20. Which artists criticized the greed and capitalism that served as the root of war in works such as The
Eclipse of the Sun?
a.
Picasso
b.
Marc
c.
Grosz
d.
Kandinsky
21. Which of the Blaue Reiter artists found animals superior to humans as the subject for his art?
a.
Wassily Kandinsky
b.
Paul Klee
c.
Emil Nolde
d.
Franz Marc
22. Henry Moore’s great series of reclining nudes is said to have been inspired by ____.
a.
an African ancestral figure
b.
a Chinese figure of Guanyin
c.
a pre-Columbian figure, the Chacmool
d.
a medieval representation of Mary Magdalene
23. Who wrote, “All my life I have sought the essence of flight. Don’t look for the mysteries. I give you
pure joy. Look at the sculptures until you see them. Those nearest to God have seen them.”
a.
Barlach
b.
Brancusi
c.
Hepworth
d.
Moore
24. A nonobjective work refers to work that ____.
a.
has been abstracted from a natural object
b.
has no reference to the external appearance of the physical world
c.
is not considered objectionable by anyone
d.
has no material form but is merely conceived in the mind
25. Of the following, who is the best example of a twentieth-century artist who believed that art should
delight, inspire, and enhance our lives as human beings?
a.
Beckmann
b.
Malevich
c.
Matisse
d.
Ensor
26. The Chrysler Building by William van Alen has elements from which of the following styles?
a.
Art Nouveau
b.
Art Deco
c.
Cubist
d.
Fin-de-siècle
27. Symbolism and fantasy were joined to create works filled with visionary joy and despair by which of
the following artists?
a.
Franc Marc
b.
Marc Chagall
c.
Frida Kahlo
d.
Emile Nolde
28. Which phrase best expresses the sculptural style of Boccioni?
a.
nervous agitation
b.
dynamic movement
c.
sinuous organic curves
d.
sharply intersecting planes
29. Who said: “…we rejected imitative colors, and that with pure colors we obtained stronger reactions…”?
a.
Pablo Picasso
b.
Ernst Kirchner
c.
Max Beckmann
d.
Henri Matisse
30. Which artist, even though he was older than the Die Brücke artists, was invited to join them because
he was pursuing similar ideas in his work?
a.
Henry Matisse
b.
André Derain
c.
Emile Nolde
d.
Kirchner
31. The work of Ernst Kirchner shows ____.
a.
the influence of the Pre-Raphaelites
b.
the influence of Italian Renaissance frescoes
c.
subjects drawn from the industrialized urban bourgeoisie
d.
the influence of Analytical Cubism
32. Who is the Surrealist?
a.
Salvador Dalí
b.
Jacob Lawrence
c.
Henri Matisse
d.
Pablo Picasso
33. The hovering figure that served as a memorial to those who died in World War I was created by ____.
a.
Wilhelm Lehmbruck
b.
Ernst Barlach
c.
Ernst Kirchner
d.
Max Beckmann
34. A painting that was done in reaction to World War I was ____.
a.
Ernst Kirchner’s Street, Berlin
b.
Wassily Kandinsky’s Improvisation 28
c.
Max Beckmann’s Night
d.
Kurt Schwitters’s Merz pictures
35. Which of the following statements about Dada is true?
a.
Dada originated in Copenhagen
b.
All Dada works were created in marble
c.
The Dada artists were Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, and Kurt Schwitters
d.
Dada had no fixed ideas
36. Who photographed the rural poor displaced by the Great Depression in the 1930s?
a.
Alfred Stieglitz
b.
Charles Sheeler
c.
Edward Weston
d.
Dorothea Lange
37. Who belonged to the Pittura Metafisica movement, which greatly influenced Surrealism?
a.
Matisse
b.
Ernst
c.
De Chirico
d.
Kandinsky
38. ” . . . I believe in the future resolution of the states of dream and reality, in appearance so
contradictory, in a sort of absolute reality, or surreality.” This definition of Surrealism was written by
____.
a.
Guillaume Apollinaire
b.
Friedrich Nietzsche
c.
Salvador Dalí
d.
André Breton
39. Which one of the following statements is not true?
a.
Titles of Surrealist works were intended to challenge the expectations of the viewer.
b.
The Surrealists considered dreams to be an area in which people could reengage their
deeper selves that society had repressed.
c.
Surrealism ignored the ideas of psychoanalysis put forth by Jung and Freud.
d.
One of the leading proponents of Surrealism was Salvador Dalí.
40. The goal of Dalí’s “paranoiac-critical” method was to ____.
a.
portray the art of madmen
b.
illustrate the sado-masochistic theories of Krafft-Ebing
c.
pour his emotions directly onto the canvas, with no thought of technique
d.
create images of inner reality and irrationality as concrete as the world of physical reality
41. (Figure 29-66a)
a.
Mondrian
b.
Gropius
c.
Moholy-Nagy
d.
Breuer
42. (Figure 29-11)
a.
Marc
b.
Kandinsky
c.
Klee
d.
Picasso
43. (Figure 29-26)
a.
Arp
b.
Brancusi
c.
Duchamp
d.
Lehmbruck
44. (Figure 29-17)
a.
Picasso
b.
Delaunay
c.
Dalí
d.
Braque
45. (Figure 29-25)
a.
Cubism
b.
German Expressionism
c.
Futurism
d.
Fauve
46. (Figure 29-41)
a.
Aaron Douglas
b.
Charles Demuth
c.
Jacob Lawrence
d.
Edward Hopper
47. (Figure 29-9)
a.
etching
b.
engraving
c.
litho
d.
oil on canvas
48. (Figure 29-74)
a.
Orozco
b.
Picasso
c.
Miro
d.
Rivera
49. (Figure 29-72)
a.
oil on canvas
b.
drawing
c.
mural
d.
pastel
50. (Figure 29-70)
a.
Dorothea Lange
b.
Edward Hopper
c.
Jacob Lawrence
d.
Charles Sheeler
51. (Figure 29-63)
a.
Boccioni
b.
Moore
c.
Tatlin
d.
Gonzalez
52. (Figure 29-59)
a.
Klee
b.
Matisse
c.
Kandinsky
d.
Ernst
53. (Figure 29-60)
a.
Arp
b.
Schwitters
c.
Mondrian
d.
Severini
54. (Figure 29-6)
a.
Picasso
b.
Derain
c.
Nolde
d.
Kirchner
55. (Figure 29-69)
a.
Jacob Lawrence
b.
Ben Shahn
c.
Edward Hopper
d.
Charles Sheeler
56. (Figure 29-76A)
a.
Walter Gropius
b.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
c.
Le Corbusier
d.
Marcel Breuer
57. (Figure 29-76)
a.
Alfred Stieglitz
b.
Edward Weston
c.
Dorothea Lange
d.
Max Ernst
58. (Figure 29-4)
a.
André Derain
b.
Henri Matisse
c.
Pablo Picasso
d.
Georges Rouault
59. (Figure 29-8)
a.
Matisse
b.
Kandinsky
c.
Marc
d.
Kirchner
60. (Figure 29-16)
a.
Suprematism
b.
Analytic Cubism
c.
Futurism
d.
Synthetic Cubism
61. (Figure 29-62)
a.
fiberglass
b.
marble
c.
polished granite
d.
onyx
62. (Figure 29-77)
a.
Bourke-White
b.
Lange
c.
Stieglitz
d.
Weston
63. (Figure 29-33)
a.
Le Corbusier
b.
Gropius
c.
Loos
d.
Mendelssohn
64. (Figure 29-36)
a.
oil on canvas
b.
tempera on wood
c.
acrylic on plastic
d.
pastel on paper
65. (Figure 29-10)
a.
Picasso
b.
Klee
c.
Schiele
d.
Modersohn-Becker
SHORT ANSWER
1. Describe the Armory Show. How did it impact the American art scene of the early 20th century?
2. What was “291“?
3. Describe Art Deco.
4. What is a “Prairie House”?
5. Picasso said, “Painting is not made to decorate apartments. It is an instrument for offensive and
defensive war against the enemy.” How did this statement reflect the political nature of artists during
this time period, and how did it mirror Picasso’s personal politics?
6. How does the work of Hannah Höch reflect German society of the Weimar Republic years?
7. Alfred Barr’s statement, “German artists of spirit and integrity have refused to conform. They have
gone into exile or slipped into anxious obscurity. . . Their paintings or sculptures have been hidden or
exiled.” is referring to what event? How did this “flight” impact the art of the United States?
8. What subject matter did Jacob Lawrence use in his work, and how was it significant?
9. How did the subject matter Edward Hopper used in his art relate to the Depression era?
10. Briefly describe Surrealism.
11. What was the purpose of the Bauhaus?
12. Briefly contrast Analytic and Synthetic Cubism.
13. How did Charles Demuth react to Cubism?
14. Brancusi said, “What is real is not the external form but the essence of things.” How does this
statement reflect his work?
15. How did Georgia O’Keeffe reflect the fast pace of city life in her work?
16. How does Night by Max Beckmann become a metaphor for German society during 1918-1919?
17. What is a “mobile,” who created it, and why?
18. How did Le Corbusier design a house as “a machine for living”?
19. Briefly describe Futurism.
20. How did society see the avant-garde artist?
ESSAY
1. Compare the work of Jacob Lawrence and Edward Hopper. How did each artist respond to his period?
What artistic devices did each artist use to create emotion in his work? What was the sociopolitical
context each artist addressed? Use examples to support your essay.
2. Explain the use of art as a vehicle for propaganda in the work of Höch, Grosz, Picasso and Lawrence.
Use examples to support your essay.
3. Compare and contrast the Fauves with the German Expressionists. What influences can be seen in
each movement? How did each influence the other? Use examples to support your essay.
4. Describe the impact the Armory Show (1913) had on the American art scene. Use examples to support
your essay.
5. Describe Pablo Picasso’s Demoiselles d‘Avignon. How did this work re-shape the art of the early
twentieth century? Include in your discussion the influences coming from Primitive art. Use examples
to support your essay.
6. Discuss the relationship of Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kaufmann House
(Fallingwater). How did the architects marry the shape, volume, and space of each house to its
environment? How do these structures represent each architect and his philosophy?
7. Compare the work of Hannah Höch, Duchamp, and Kurt Schwitters as it relates to Dada. How did
each artist respond to the sociopolitical context of the period?
8. Explain the development of Cubism and the artistic movements that it spawned. Use examples to
support your essay.
9. Describe the utopian ideals of Suprematism and Constructivism. How were these philosophies
manifested in Revolutionary Russia, now called the Soviet Union? How did the art community
respond to these concepts? Use examples to support your essay.
10. Compare and contrast the work of Edward Weston and Dorothea Lange. How did each artist respond
to the medium of photography as a visual art form? How did their works reflect their respective
environments?
OTHER
SLIDE QUESTIONS
1. How does this artist’s approach to religious subjects differ from conventional treatments?
2. How does this work break with the academic traditions of heroic male nudity?
3. How does this work reflect the Futurist art movement?
4. How do these works differ in how they deal with the theme of war?
5. What do these works describe, and how do they reflect the United States?
6. How do these houses describe their functionality?
7. Contrast these two pieces of sculpture, noting when and where each was done. What do they have in
common?
8. Compare these two country homes. Who did them, and when? How does each deal with the issues of
the relationship of the building to the surroundings? How does each respond to formal design and
function?
9. Who created these models, and what were their purposes?
10. Who created these works, and what were their themes? Why did the artists feel that such themes were
relevant?
11. Who painted each work, and to what historical events does each refer?
12. How do these works reflect the early 20th century?