All Over the Place Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Hay Wain

During the Dutch Golden Age (seventeenth century), master artists such Jacob van Ruisdael, elevated the status of landscape art. However, this fell away significantly during the eighteenth century, to the point that only still life was considered a less worthy subject matter. That all began to change with the advent of John Constable's work in the nineteenth century.

Inspired by his father's farm he created a range of over-sized canvases that became affectionately known as "six footers". "The Hay Wain" is seen by many judges as the peak of his work in this genre. It may come as a surprise to some, but Constable did his painting in a studio rather than in the field. He did, however, complete his sketches outside. The sketching was important for Constable as he was a stickler for detail, ensuring that small features such as the tack on the horses and the species of the trees were easily identifiable.

(Footnote) Willy Lott's House still stands today and is located in Flatford, Suffolk, England.

Answer: Morning

The work is entitled "Morning in a Pine Forest" (1889) and it is generally attributed to the artist Ivan Shishkin. Scholars now indicate that the work was a partnership, and that the other contributing artist was Konstantin Savitsky. There are two stories that circulate as to why there was only the single attribution. The first involves Savitsky himself, indicating that he'd removed his own signature from the work and, thereby, forfeiting his rights to the copywrite. The other involves an art collector named Pavel Tretyakov who, reportedly, erased Savitsky's signature stating that "from idea to performance, everything discloses the painting manner and creative method peculiar just to Shishkin".

The scene in the painting shows a mother bear with three cubs (Savitsky's contribution to the work) exploring a forest of spruce and pine trees, that appear to create a thicket around the creatures, shutting out the world of man and providing them with a form of security blanket. The landscape comes from the fine eyes and hands of Shishkin, who is one of Russia's most venerated landscape artists. He became a part of the Peredvizhniki movement that would evolve into the Society for Traveling Art in 1870. Other notable works by Shishkin include "Forest in Spring" (1889) and the "Sestroretsk Forest" (1896). Savitsky was a Russian realist artist who became a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. He is better known for his art teaching skills.

(Footnote) There are conflicting views as to which area served as the inspiration for Shishkin in this work. Some indicate that it was Gorodomlya Island on Lake Seliger in the Tver Oblast in Russia. I am not saying that this is correct, but, for the purpose of this quiz we have selected a view of the Narva-Joesuu in Estonia. This is a region where Shishkin was known to have spent many summers and utilized the area for his paintings.

Answer: Goethe

Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein was a member of the Hessian Tischbeins, a family that produced a wealth of wonderful painters. So much so that they were given nicknames so that they could be, more readily, identified. Generally, these sobriquets related to the region in which they compiled most of their paintings, hence there's "Kasseler" Tischbein, "Leipziger" Tischbein and "Hanauer" Tischbein, to name a few. Johann, on the other hand, received the moniker of "Goethe" Tischbein, thanks to his longstanding relationship with the German playwright.

A stipend from the Kunsthochschule Kassel (a fine arts school in Kassel) allowed him to travel to Rome in 1779, where he studied for two years and his style of painting moved from Rococo to Classicism. Another stipend in 1783 saw him in Rome again, this time for sixteen years. He met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, during the author's "Italian Journey" between 1786 and 1788. The two became close friends and Tischbein would end up touring all of Italy with him. Tischbein found the Campagna landscape compelling, especially with the ruins in the background and persuaded Goethe that this would be the perfect place to paint the author's portrait.

(Footnotes) (1) This portrait would intrigue another future artist, Andy Warhol, who, in 1982 would utilize that profile for one of his famous screen print creations. (2) During summer, in the streets of Campagna, the river Tenza is diverted from its natural course to run through channels in the city's streets, allowing locals and tourists to bathe in it. In the local dialect, this festival is called the "A Chiena".

Answer: Woodblock

In his 1988 book "One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji", historian Henry Smith advises that Mount Fuji is seen by the Japanese people to hold the secret to immortality. Part of this stems from the "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter", believed to be a 10th century story whose author is unknown. In this legend, the Emperor of Japan falls in love with a child of the moon. He proposes to her but is gently turned down. As the woman returns to her people, she sends him a letter with a drop of the elixir of immortality. The Emperor has his staff burn the letter on the point that is nearest to Heaven (Mount Fuji) so that the moon child can sense his pain. He also has them spill the elixir on the mountain top because he could not bear immortality without his true love.

This fascination with the mountain also infected Hokusai, one of Japan's foremost ukiyo-e (which means "pictures of the floating world") artists. He produced his "Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji" series between 1830 and 1832, at a time when he was both 70 years old and at the peak of his prodigious talent. The series showcases Japan's icon in various phases, angles, seasons and weather conditions.

"Mount Fuji reflects in Lake Kawaguchi, seen from the Misaka Pass in Kai Province", which is seen on the left is not the most famous of Hokusai's pieces in the collection. Easily, his most recognizable is "The Great Wave off Kanagawa". However, "Reflection..." does showcase some of the artist's great skill and his ability to reflect beyond what he is seeing. Take, for example, the mountain's reflection in the lake, it is off-centre and the lake does not mirror the mountain in design or colour. The thinking is that, perhaps, the artist was looking to show the mountain in two separate seasons with the single view.

The following is a very simplified explanation as to how Hokusai would go about creating his woodblock. Initially he would draw the image onto paper, which he'd then glue onto a woodblock. This provides the outline that he would then carve. The original drawing is subsequently destroyed as a part of this process. The woodblock is then filled with ink and then paper is applied to this.

Answer: Boer

In 1838, incensed by the spread of Voortrekkers (Boers) into his kingdom, the Zulu King Dingane ordered a string of massacres, at various sites, along the Bloukrans River. These sites exist today around the town that is now known as Weenen (Place of Weeping). The massacres were brutal, and this was borne out by AJP Opperman in his book "The Battle of Blood River" (1982); "Not a soul was spared. Old men, women and babies were murdered in the most brutal manner." In all, 41 men, 56 women and 185 children were killed.

This savagery was captured on canvas by English artist Thomas Baines, though the exact date of the painting is not known. Baines did two trips to South Africa, the second as part of Dr Livingstone's 1858 expedition along the Zambezi River, however, most consider that his first visit in 1842, when he was employed as a war artist by the British Army, is the most likely time the work was completed. Baines first visit lasted until 1855, at which point, he travelled to Australia. The Yale University Library records the image of the work as the "Battle of Blaauwkrantz in 1838" and lists its publishing date as 1854.

Answer: Sydney

Charles Conder's place in the annuls of Australia's art history was assured when he became one of the founding members of the country's Heidelberg School of Australian Impressionism. English born, he was sent to Australia to become a surveyor under the tutelage of his uncle. He soon found that he obtained more enjoyment from painting landscapes than marking them.

In his early painting years, he worked alongside such Australian luminaries as Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton, however, his greatest influence was the American painter James Whistler, from whom he learnt the art of suggestive colouring. Conder was also a keen student of Japanese artists and how they employed large empty spaces in their works. These skills are highlighted in his works "A Holiday at Mentone" (1888) and "The Hot Sands" (1891).

"The Departure of the Orient - Circular Quay" (1888), on the left, is considered to be his greatest work, almost a culmination of the lessons that he'd learnt from Whistler. The view, which was depicted from the first story of the First and Last Hotel, captures a rainy day, and the moment that the ship, the Orient, is about to leave the docks for England.

The sale of this painting enabled Conder to travel to Europe in 1890. He did not return to Australia again. Instead, he studied Aestheticism and mixed with the likes of Oscar Wilde and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. Though his works were better received in Britain than in other parts of Europe, it is considered that his best works remained as those that he'd compiled in Australia.

Answer: American Gothic

Painted in 1930, "American Gothic" is, possibly, one of the most recognizable pieces of American art that has been created. That is not merely a result of Grant Wood creating a wonderful piece of Americana, that depicts his version the rural American mid-west, but also that it been used in a range of advertisements, and it being parodied in other media. Good examples of the latter include the Disney animation "Mulan" (1998) and the musical film "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975).

The Dibble House, which is situated in Eldon Iowa, was the initial inspiration for Wood who, coincidentally, also hails from the town. He called upon his sister, Nan, and Byron McKeely, a dentist from Cedar Rapids, to act as his models, dressing them in his idea of small-town Americans, at the time. Ironically, the painting was originally seen as satirical; however, with the onset of the Great Depression it soon became a symbol of the steadfast American spirit.

(Footnotes) (1) The Dibble House was built by Catherine and Charles Dibble in 1882. Since then, it was sold and purchased numerous times until 1991. At this point it was donated to the State Historical Society in Iowa. It is open to the public on specified Saturdays between April and October. (2) The couple in the painting are often mistaken as husband and wife but are meant to be father and daughter.

Answer: Impressionism

Impression is the practice of painting "en plein air" (in the open air) which is how many of Sorolla's paintings were done. As if to evidence this, it would not be unusual to find grains of sand embedded in them.

Sorolla's talent was identified at an early age, and he would go on to become one of Spain's most celebrated artists. Yet, whilst he was hailed as "Spain's impressionist", he was barely known outside his homeland. Early in his career, en-route to Paris, he stopped off at San Sebastian and created some small works of art. The town made a lasting impression upon him and it, at first, became a regular stopping point for him on his journeys to France, before becoming the place he preferred to take vacations at.

He returned to San Sebastian in the summer of 1917 and stayed for two years. During this time, he painted a vast number of landscapes, including the scenes at the breakwater. The painting on the left (entitled "Breakwater at San Sebastian"), which captures the breakwater on a wet and cloudy day, incorporates individuals, but they seem to pale against the grandeur of the sea and Mount Ulin in the background.

Sorolla was dubbed the "Master of Light" as that aspect represented a significant feature of his paintings. He was not an artist that spent time on detail. He worked fast with the aim of catching a particular lighting in an instant. If he failed to complete that painting before the light changed, he would put it aside and wait for another day when it was similar to finish it.

Answer: Romantic

The use of the word "sublime" in the question was deliberate. Miguel Gaete indicates, in his September, 2020 journal "From Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog to the iCloud: A Comparative Analysis between the Romantic Concept of the Sublime and Cyberspace" for the University of York: "The sublime entails powerful conceptual associations such as the infinite and the limitless, together with a series of overwhelming feelings that they can elicit in those who experience it."

This 1818 work of Friedrich's elicits all of those qualities. For starters, take in the sight of a man standing on the edge of what appears to be a large precipice. Despite the size of his frame, he is dwarfed by the landscape and seems to have been cast adrift in clouds of the unknown. How high is this cliff that he's on? We don't know but we get a sense of its height by the size of the trees in the background, to his right. The fog adds another element of mystery and you, the viewer, are left wondering what the man in the painting is wondering. Sublime indeed.

When trying to capture the essence of nature, the Romantic artists turned toward her power, her wildness and her, at times, lack of restraint. Freidrich's painting acutely captures those essences. Over the centuries this vision has provided inspiration to many other creators. It is boldly showcased on the cover of Terry Eagleton's 1990 book "The Ideology of the Aesthetic". In the "Sherlock" episode "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (season 2, episode 2, 2012) the protagonist climbs on top of a hill in Dartmoor, as the camera pans behind him, his dark hair and coat billowing in the wind to provide a stark representation of Friedrich's painting. Similar images can be found on the covers of the video game "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" (2017) and the comic book "Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor - A Confusion of Angels" (2017).

Answer: Yes

Including the above work, there are four paintings that make up this series for the artist. The painting of the café was captured in 1888, as was the subdued "Starry Night on the Rhone"; the instantly recognizable "Starry Night" was produced in 1889 and, a year later, Van Gogh created "Road with Cypress and Star".

After completing "Café Terrace at Night", in a letter to his sister, Vincent wrote "the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day." With this in mind it is little wonder that van Gogh preferred the evening settings for this series. That said, he also chose not to use the colour black as a way to depict the night in this scene. Instead, he uses a very deep blue to play against the brightness of the yellow café. Van Gogh completed his sketching of the café at the site, however the paint work was done in his studio. Arles, proved to be a great inspiration for the artist and some of his finest works emanated while he was in the area. Sadly, it was also the scene where his mental demons took hold. Four months after completing "Café Terrace at Night", he would cut off his ear.

At a 2013 European Conference on Arts & Humanities, Washington based researcher, Jared Baxter, put forward the suggestion that this work held allusions to the "Last Supper" as delivered in the gospels. He observes that the painting features a long-haired central figure at the café, surrounded by twelve others. He adds further that the one, who appears shadowy and is slipping out a side door, may be representative of the betrayer Judas. To add weight to this allusion he indicates that, at the time of working on this piece, Vincent had written to his brother, Theo, and declared that he had a "tremendous need for religion". This also aligned with van Gogh's upbringing: firstly, as the son of a Dutch Reformed church pastor and, secondly, a desire he held to preach the gospel, before he took up painting.