Art: By Museum Trivia

1. Who founded the Whitney Museum?

From Quiz "A Moveable Feast" of American Art - The Whitney

Answer: Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was herself a sculptor, art collector and patron of American artists. She was born into the wealthy and socially connected Vanderbilt family and married into the wealthy and socially connected Whitney family. It was only after the Metropolitan Museum of Art declined the offered gift of her art collection that Whitney decided to found her own museum to showcase American artists.

From Quiz Where's That Art? London Edition

Answer: National Gallery

The National Gallery stands on Trafalgar Square in central London, facing Nelson's Column. The gallery was founded in 1824 and is now run by the British government's Department of Culture, Media and Sport as an exempt charity. It houses over 2,300 paintings from the thirteenth century to 1900, including internationally famous works such as Leonardo da Vinci's "Virgin of the Rocks", Sandro Boticelli's "Venus and Mars" and "The Ambassadors" by Hans Holbein the Younger. Van Gogh painted two series of paintings of sunflowers. The first series was painted in 1887, while he lived in Paris with his brother, and depicts sunflowers lying on the ground. The second series followed in 1888 when van Gogh moved to Arles and depicts the flowers in vases. The yellow hued painting in the National Gallery is perhaps one of the most recognisable of all of Van Gogh's works.

From Quiz Where's That Art? Paris Edition

Answer: The Louvre

The Louvre is one of the largest museums in the world; it contains over 35,000 historical artifacts and works of art. The museum sits within the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which was originally built by King Philip II in the twelfth century. It was inhabited by the monarchy until the reign of Louis XIV (the Sun King), who chose the palace of Versailles as his home instead. Following the French Revolution, it was decided that the Louvre should be used as a museum and it was opened as such in 1793. The famous entrance pyramid was completed in 1989, having been commissioned by French president François Mitterand. The "Mona Lisa", by Leonardo Da Vinci, is known by different names in different countries around the world. In France, it is known as "La Joconde" and is one of the most visited works of art in the world.

From Quiz The Pride of the Prado

Answer: Hieronymus Bosch

A triptych is an artwork comprised of three panels held together with hinges. Bosch's triptychs were oil paintings on large wooden panels: in the case of "The Garden of Earthly Delights", more than two metres wide and almost four metres high. Bosch's colourful pieces show highly evocative moral messages. In addition to the triptychs, the Prado collection includes a tabletop painted by Bosch divided into segments portraying each of the seven deadly sins.

From Quiz Art at the Joslyn - A Secret of the Plains

Answer: Art Deco

Architects John and Alan McDonald originally presented plans to build the Joslyn in a renaissance style, and the symmetrical arches and classical columns still survive from that concept. Midway through construction, the architects convinced patron Sarah Joslyn to switch to art deco, characterized by an aspiration to modernity and characteristic "stepped" design elements. These motifs anchor the original building in its time and place, while the addition, opened in 1994, features the less decorative, spare lines and the impression of open spaces that are markers of postmodern architecture.

From Quiz Art Masterpieces: In What Museum? (Part 2)

Answer: British Museum, London

The legality of the removal of the "Elgin Marbles" has been questioned ever since Thomas Bruce, the seventh earl of Elgin, brought these Greek sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens to Britain in 1806.

From Quiz Art Masterpieces: In What Museum? (Part 1)

Answer: Louvre Museum, Paris

The mutilated masterpiece was discovered in 1820 on the island of Melos (Milo in modern Greek). There is speculation that the mysterious goddess may not be Aphrodite at all, but rather the sea goddess Amphitrite, who was revered on Milo.

From Quiz At the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Answer: Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp was born in France in 1887. This dadaist is famous for his idea of "found art" or "readymades." One example of a "readymade" is Duchamp's "Fountain," which is a urinal that he put on display as art.

From Quiz Ten from MoMA

Answer: Melting clocks

Dali was Spanish. He painted the surealistic 'The Persistence of Memory' in 1931.

From Quiz Art Masterpieces- Where Are They? 4-3-2-1- go!

Answer: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Jacque-Louis David (1748-1825) led the French Neo-classicalism school of painting. The painting, "Death of Socrates" (1787) depicts the last moments of Socrates (469-399 BCE), who was accused by Greek authorities of denying the gods, and given the choice of renouncing his beliefs or drinking poison hemlock. He chose the latter. The Met has a fine collection of French paintings including also Marie-Denise Villers' (1774-1821) masterpiece "Young Woman Drawing".

From Quiz Art Masterpieces- Where are They?

Answer: The Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Painted by the renaissance master, Leonardo DaVinci (1479-1528). The portrait is also known as "La Gioconda" and is thought to depict the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. It is an oil painting, painted on wood. The painting was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and found two years later in a hotel in Florence.

From Quiz Paintings from London's Smaller Art Collections

Answer: Franz Hals

This well-known portrait can be found in the Wallace Collection, in Manchester Square. The title was not given to it by Hals (1580-1666), but became attached to the picture when it was first exhibited by Sir Richard Wallace in the 1870s. It is not even particularly accurate, since the cavalier isn't actually laughing: more of a smirk really.

From Quiz Famous Paintings in London's Tate Britain

Answer: Francis Bacon

This triptych by Bacon (1909-1992) was first exhibited in 1945. As a representation of the human condition in the aftermath of the war, its impact was enormous, both in the context of Bacon's own career and British art in general. He later identified the figures with the Eumenides, the Furies of Greek legend.

From Quiz Famous Paintings in London's National Gallery

Answer: Jan van Eyck

Often wrongly referred to as the "Arnolfini Wedding", it is not in fact a wedding portrait. Nor is the wife pregnant: she is merely holding up her gown in what was the fashionable style of the time.

From Quiz Name That Art Museum

Answer: Prado, Madrid

The Prado has many works by Valazquez, including The Surrender of Breda and The Drinkers.

From Quiz "A Moveable Feast" of American Art - The Whitney

Answer: 1931

Given the Met's refusal of her collection, and the preference of the Museum of Modern Art for European artists, Whitney decided to found her own museum in 1930. It was not until 1931, however, that the building which formerly housed "The Whitney Studio Club", together with two adjacent row houses, were renovated into gallery space and a residence for Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, that the museum was able to mount its first exhibition.

From Quiz Where's That Art? Paris Edition

Answer: Musée d'Orsay

The Musée d'Orsay is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a train station constructed in 1900 that sits on the right bank of the Seine. Until 1939 it was a terminus for trains from southern France, but its short platforms rendered it useless following the introduction of mainline trains. It became a museum in the 1970s and now houses over 2,000 paintings and over 600 sculptures and other works. "Starry Night over the Rhone" depicts a night in Arles and was painted in 1888 by Vincent Van Gogh.

From Quiz The Pride of the Prado

Answer: Francisco Goya

Goya was court painter under Spanish King Charles (Carlos) IV. Later in life, deaf, isolated and fearing insanity, he created a series of dark, haunting works collectively known as the "Black Paintings". Goya painted "Saturn Devouring His Son" directly onto the walls of his house; it was later transferred to canvas.

From Quiz Art at the Joslyn - A Secret of the Plains

Answer: American Indian custom and dress

Bodmer's work was drawn from his travels in the 1830s American West. His depictions of American Indians before the assimilating influence of Euro-American civilization stand as some of the outstanding documents of native culture.

From Quiz Art Masterpieces: In What Museum? (Part 2)

Answer: Whitney Museum of American Art

Gloria Vanderbilt Whitney, the museum's founder, was an enthusiastic supporter of Edward Hopper. Because of this relationship, Hopper's widow Josephine bequeathed her husband's entire artistic estate to the museum when she died.

From Quiz Ten from MoMA

Answer: Five women

The abstract 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' by Pablo Picasso was painted in 1907.

From Quiz Art Masterpieces- Where Are They? 4-3-2-1- go!

Answer: The Louvre in Paris, France

"The Raft of the Medusa" measures a huge 16' x 23' and was painted between 1818 and 1819. The subject of the painting is the ordeal of the survivors of the French ship Medusa, which was crowded with Algerian immigrants, and which sunk off the coast of Africa in 1816. This was a result of human error and incompetence and led to a huge scandal in France when the survivors told their stories. The government considered the painting to be a political attack at the time. However Géricault actually neglected to depict the most horrible aspects of the incident, including murder, and cannibalism, and rather showed the dramatic turning point when the desperate survivors attempt to attract the attention of the distant ship that eventually rescued them.

From Quiz Art Masterpieces- Where are They?

Answer: The Louvre Museum, Paris, France

The "Venus de Milo" is believed to have been created by the Helenistic Greek poet and artist, Alexandros, and was brought to France in the nineteenth century.

From Quiz Paintings from London's Smaller Art Collections

Answer: Jean-Honore Fragonard

Another picture from the Wallace Collection, Fragonard's (1732-1806) painting epitomises the frivolity and exuberance of the French Ancien Regime (or perhaps its decadence, depending on your point of view). In either case, the situation pictured is decidedly scandalous: the man on the left, lounging on a bed of roses, is looking up the skirt of the woman on the swing, who is suggestively kicking off her shoe. To make matters worse, the man on the right, pushing the swing, is said to be a priest...

From Quiz Famous Artists in London's Tate Modern

Answer: Pablo Picasso

Picasso (1881-1973) painted nudes throughout his long career. This late work comes over as a brutal arrangement of orifaces, breasts and limbs. The face is that of his second wife, Jacqueline Roque.

From Quiz Famous Paintings in London's Tate Britain

Answer: William Blake

Blake (1757-1827) produced this watercolour as one of a series of illustrations to Dante's "Divine Comedy". It depicts events in Cantos 29-31 of the "Purgatorio". The "Car" is not, alas, a Ford Capri or similar, but a chariot drawn by a Gryphon.

From Quiz Name That Art Museum

Answer: National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

The National Gallery's literature states that Renoir believed,'A painting should be a lovable thing, gay and pretty...'.

From Quiz "A Moveable Feast" of American Art - The Whitney

Answer: Greenwich Village

The museum's original home was located on West 8th Street between 5th Avenue and MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village.

This is category 7389
Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:47 AM

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, Top 10% Rated Quiz, Top 20% Rated Quiz, A Well Rated Quiz
= added recently, = Editor's Pick = FunTrivia Editor = Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.