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Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____ 1. Formal analysis is important because it is helpful in understanding the ____ of a work of art.
a.
subject matter
b.
context
c.
composition
d.
iconography
____ 2. The Tlaloc Vessel is frontal and symmetrical, which is symbolic of ____.
a.
ambiguity
b.
formality
c.
informality
d.
playfulness
____ 3. Content is about a work of art’s ____.
a.
beauty
b.
theme
c.
size
d.
shape
____ 4. Dona Schlesier’s mixed-media piece Setting Cycles has a subject matter that is ____.
a.
historical
b.
autobiographical
c.
devoid of meaning
d.
in the organization of the materials used to make the piece
____ 5. A subtext of Hopper’s Nighthawks would be ____.
a.
a sense of romance and adventure
b.
a sense of impending doom or entrapment
c.
hope and renewal
d.
magic and transformation
____ 6. Artistic metaphors and symbols are ____.
a.
elements which are descriptive of something else
b.
elements which represent some other concept
c.
culturally determined
d.
all of the above
____ 7. Iconography uses ____ to suggest concepts and ideas.
a.
writing
b.
symbols
c.
paint
d.
figures
____ 8. Ideological criticism deals with a work of art’s ____ significance.
a.
religious
b.
political
c.
economic
d.
social
____ 9. Structuralists believe that in order to understand a work of art, one must study the structure of art and the
complex ____ of all its parts.
a.
interrelationship
b.
iconography
c.
ideology
d.
none of the above
____ 10. Deconstruction involves the belief that any image has ____ of meanings.
a.
only one set
b.
a religiously determined set
c.
a multiplicity
d.
a universal set
____ 11. While ____ was important to modernists, ____ is important to postmodernists.
a.
construction/deconstruction
b.
photography/painting
c.
sculpture/poetry
d.
painting/photography
____ 12. Psychoanalytic criticism helps to interpret artwork with strong ____ content.
a.
religious
b.
social
c.
preconceived
d.
emotional
____ 13. Feminist criticism deals with ____ in art.
a.
postmodernism
b.
gender
c.
prejudice
d.
psychoanalysis
____ 14. According to ____, all art supports some particular political agenda, cultural structure, or economic/class
hierarchy.
a.
post-structuralism
b.
psychoanalytic criticism
c.
ideological criticism
d.
structuralism
____ 15. Context refers to the social and ____ conditions that encompass a work of art.
a.
political
b.
symbolic
c.
structural
d.
critical
____ 16. Gerhard Richter’s series of fifteen paintings titled October 18, 1977 reflects ____ ideas.
a.
feminist
b.
religious
c.
ideological
d.
post-structuralist
____ 17. In a work of art, content is conveyed primarily in three ways: through its symbolic references,
through written materials and cultural context, and ____.
a.
through familiarity with the artist’s work
b.
through the subject matter
c.
through the materials used to create the work
d.
through the technical expertise of the artist
____ 18. Brazilian-born Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija created a stainless steel Ping-Pong table called
Untitled 2008 (the future will be chrome). This work is a good example of ____ because
gallery-goers can play on it.
a.
relational aesthetics
b.
phenomenology
c.
structuralism
d.
semiotics
____ 19. The subtext in an artwork refers to ____.
a.
critical writings about its meaning
b.
noticeable areas of secondary dominance
c.
its working title
d.
its underlying theme or message
____ 20. The role of the art critic is ____.
a.
to research art of the past and art of other cultures
b.
to write material for museum exhibitions
c.
to describe works of art and evaluate their significance
d.
to define popular taste in art
____ 21. ____ is a system of symbols that allows artists to refer to complex ideas.
a.
Context
b.
Structuralism
c.
Phenomenology
d.
Iconography
____ 22. The ____ tells us what a work of art is about.
a.
subject matter
b.
aesthetics
c.
formal elements
d.
media
____ 23. A visual ____ is an image or element that is descriptive of something else.
a.
ideology
b.
context
c.
metaphor
d.
integration
____ 24. ____ criticism focuses on the political implications of a work of art.
a.
Formalist
b.
Ideological
c.
Psychological
d.
Structural
____ 25. The study of signs in verbal or written communication is called ____ .
a.
semiotics
b.
post-structuralism
c.
feminism
d.
formalism
____ 26. A recent discipline in critical writing is ____ , which attempts to
integrate and analyze the visual components of contemporary culture.
a.
deconstruction
b.
semiotics
c.
structuralism
d.
visual culture
Essay
27. How does Cindy Sherman deconstruct stereotypes of women in Western cultures in her work?
28. How do feminists interpret Georgia O’Keeffe’s works?
29. Discuss some of the iconographic images mentioned in this chapter. How do they add to an
understanding of the work of art?
30. How did the physical site of Eliasson’s New York City Waterfalls impact the meaning of the work?
31. How did historical context and geographical location influence Rembrandt van Rijn as he painted The
Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, or The Night Watch, from 1642?
True/False
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
____ 32. Relational aesthetics focuses on human relationships and social spaces, rather than emphasizing
art objects in private galleries, homes, or museums.
____ 33. The most obvious factor in determining the content of a work of art is its subject matter.
____ 34. Symbols are culturally determined and cannot be taught.
____ 35. From the moment a work of art is made, its content is subject to change.
____ 36. Art historians and art critics from different periods of time often have different interpretations of the same
works of art.
____ 37. The subject in Neshat’s art is Islamic women and femininity in a country where women’s actions and
rights are limited by law.
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Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
ESSAY
TRUE/FALSE