Artists N-Z Trivia

1. Isamu Noguchi was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1904. He lived in the U.S., then Japan, and again in the U.S. Noguchi attended school in Indiana in 1918. In 1927, he won what prestigious honor?

From Quiz Isamu Noguchi

Answer: Guggenheim Fellowship

He used the award to travel to Paris. Here he furthered his study of sculpture. Later that year, Noguchi would begin to craft his earliest projects in stone and wood.

From Quiz Titian's "Flaying of Marsyas"

Answer: He dared to challenge Apollo to a contest on the flute.

Marsyas won the contest. It's not nice to do that when you're competing with a god.

From Quiz The Word Play of Xu Bing

Answer: 'Book from the Sky'

For 'Book from the Sky,' Xu Bing spent years developing characters that followed all the rules for Chinese ideograms, yet meant nothing. He then created a book using only these meaningless characters, binding several copies using traditional Chinese methods and putting another copy into scroll form. The result is a room filled with what looks like a collection of profound and scholarly tomes, signifying nothing.

From Quiz Isamu Noguchi

Answer: Constantin Brancusi

Brancusi was born in Romania in 1876. Among his best-known works were "Endless Column" and the series of pieces, "Bird in Space."

From Quiz Paintings of van Eyck

Answer: The saints are depicted as statuary.

The donors for the Ghent altarpiece were Judocus (Joost) Vijd and his wife, Elisabeth Borluut, two of the city's wealthiest and most influential citizens. They are depicted on their knees alongside the two Saint Johns, who are painted in a technique known as grisaille, which suggests statuary (he would use this technique again for his 1440 "Annunciation"). This serves both to clearly distinguish the two saints from their earthly counterparts and to give rest to the eye from the rich colors of much of the altarpiece (it also echoes the white-clad figures of the "Annunciation").

From Quiz Titian's "Flaying of Marsyas"

Answer: Midas

Midas was the judge of the contest. His punishment for preferring Marsyas' performance was to be given asses' ears. What happened to the touch of gold? Same king, different myth. (Incidentally, the Midas in the painting is a self-portrait of Titian.)

From Quiz The Word Play of Xu Bing

Answer: 1990

Unpopular with the Communist government of China, he began his time in America in Wisconsin, but moved to New York in 1993. In 1999, he received a MacArthur Genius Grant.

From Quiz Isamu Noguchi

Answer: 1

The piece was called "Sphere Section." It was done in marble.

From Quiz Paintings of van Eyck

Answer: Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve are here depicted after their fall from grace. Eve appears to be with child and both she and Adam clumsily try to cover their nakedness with their hands (and, in Adam's case, a large fig leaf). Above each of their heads is depicted a small carved relief telling the story of their sons, Cain and Abel. These two figures are theologically significant, as the two principal subjects of the altarpiece are the Annunciation, in which Mary's assent to the will of God contrasts with Eve's original transgression, and the Adoration of the Lamb of God (symbolizing Christ), whose sacrifice washes away the stain of Adam's sin.

From Quiz Titian's "Flaying of Marsyas"

Answer: contemplative and absorbed

Even Marsyas himself seems to have found a way to transcend the inherent horror of what is happening to him.

From Quiz Isamu Noguchi

Answer: 0

The show had included abstract originals. The defeat made Isamu turn to the more accessible format of portrait busts. These proved more popular, and he raised enough money to continue his studies. In Japan, he took up painting and pottery.

From Quiz Paintings of van Eyck

Answer: The Adoration of the Lamb

The Lamb (symbolic of Christ, the Paschal lamb whose sacrifice on the cross, according to church teaching, washed away the sins of the world) stands on a red altar, symbolic of blood and sacrifice. Just behind the altar, angels hold up the cross; in the foreground is a fountain, symbolic of the Water of Life. The "Adoration" recalls the words of the Book of Revelation: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and has redeemed us to God by his blood." The "Adoration" comprises five of the lower sections of the altarpiece; one large panel in the center flanked by two panels on each side. These panels depict various saints- judges, holy knights, hermits, and pilgrims (the one on the extreme left, depicting the judges, was stolen in the 1930s and has been replaced with a copy). More saints, virgins, apostles, martyrs, bishops, and confessors, approach the altar in the central panel. The whole scene is depicted in an idyllic outdoor setting; the detail with which the various plants, herbs, and trees are painted is such that horticulturalists have been able to identify specific plants and species.

From Quiz Titian's "Flaying of Marsyas"

Answer: satyr

A satyr had the torso of a man, the lower body of a goat, and a head somewhere in between.

From Quiz The Word Play of Xu Bing

Answer: Each 'monkey' is actually text meaning 'monkey'

More than a dozen languages are represented, each word stylized so as to resemble a monkey. Xu Bing has written that the inspiration for this work came from an old folktale in which a group of monkeys feared that the moon had fallen into a still pond, and formed a long chain to reach down and save it. When the lowest monkey touched the water and the 'moon' disappeared, they realized it had been an illusion.

From Quiz Isamu Noguchi

Answer: Automobile parts

The fountain received poor reviews. However, it did serve some use, as it helped Noguchi prepare for the large-scale public designs he would create in later years.

From Quiz Paintings of van Eyck

Answer: The Crucifixion and the Last Judgement

For those who think of van Eyck as purely a decorative painter, these two panels will prove a revelatory experience. The Crucifixion is one of the starker and more shocking depictions of the scene in Renaissance art. The figure of Christ appears nearly naked, a wisp of rather flimsy drapery covering the loins. Still alive, he looks from the cross as a spear is thrust into his side (the two blindfolded thieves, their legs broken, dangle grotesquely from their crosses). The grieving family and followers of Christ huddle at the front, at a considerable remove from the cross in the background, from which they are separated by a throng of soldiers on horseback. The Virgin, doubled over by grief, appears to be little more than a huddled mass of dark blue at the forefront of the panel. The Last Judgment depicts the crowned figure of Christ, sitting before the same cross (with its titulus, reading "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" still in place) surrounded by rejoicing angels and flanked by the Virgin and St. John. Below the company of the elect, under the feet of Michael the Archangel, is a hideous figure, half skeleton and half bat, spreading its wings over the damned. The condemned souls writhe in agony in one of the more loathsome depictions of Hell to be seen in Western art (A 1452 "Last Judgement by Petrus Christus is remarkably similar to this one and may, in fact, have been intended as a copy). There is some question as to whether these panels were painted by Hugo or Jan, or if they represent a collaborative effort.

From Quiz Titian's "Flaying of Marsyas"

Answer: 85

That ranks with the late operas of Verdi as one of the most prodigious achievements of an aged artist ever. We cannot be certain of Titian's age, because the year of his birth is uncertain. However, he was born around 1490, and the painting was executed in 1575 or 1576.

From Quiz The Word Play of Xu Bing

Answer: 'Landscript'

For example, a stone wall in one of the landscapes is composed of stylized renderings of the ideogram for 'rock', piled atop one another. It was at this point in the exhibition that I really began to wish I could read Chinese!

From Quiz Isamu Noguchi

Answer: Akari

Noguchi crafted the pieces using bamboo and paper. He designed them so that they could be collapsed for easy storage when not in use.

From Quiz Titian's "Flaying of Marsyas"

Answer: Apollo

Not taking any more chances, Apollo switches instruments. The choice "St. Cecilia" (patroness of music) is not as far-fetched as it sounds, because the figure of Apollo is influenced by Christian iconography, in particular the depiction of angels.

From Quiz The Word Play of Xu Bing

Answer: bird

The starting text, each ideogram an plexiglass shape instead of an inked figure, is the dictionary definition of the word 'niao' (bird). Breaking free of language, though, the words begin to soar - and even before the characters themselves begin to look like birds, the shadows they cast are those of birds in flight. The piece is really something to see: dozens of colorful shapes, suspended from fishing line, in full flight towards the exit.

From Quiz Isamu Noguchi

Answer: Fragile and durable

Noguchi had studied ceramics in the 1930s with Japanese artist Uno Jinmatsu. Isamu later produced a sculpture called "The Queen," inspired by memorial statues called 'haniwa.'

From Quiz The Word Play of Xu Bing

Answer: By extending it beyond its frame with evocative ideograms.

As in 'Landscript,' this extension of the original painting represents features of the landscape with descriptive ideograms (a stylized form of the word for 'water' flows between the banks of a river, for example). As in 'The Living Word,' the ideograms are acrylic and three-dimensional. Their arrangement is also often three-dimensional, extending onto the walls and floor.

From Quiz Titian's "Flaying of Marsyas"

Answer: Phrygia

Like much of the painting's iconography, the cap has multiple meanings. It was the general symbol for foreigners, particularly Trojans, in classical times and the symbol for freed slaves (later a general symbol for freedom). It also bears more than a slight resemblance to the cap of the doge, the ruler of Venice, where Titian lived and worked.

From Quiz The Word Play of Xu Bing

Answer: The writing is English but looks Chinese.

In Square Word Calligraphy, the letters of each word are arranged around each other in such a way that the ensemble resembles a Chinese ideogram. With some practice, however, an English speaker can learn to read Square Word.

From Quiz Ten Clues to Ten Treasures

Answer: The Jury

One juror seems to be sleeping. The rest of the men are patently trying to convince the woman to change her vote, and she's having none of it. Rockwell painted himself into many of his scenes and he is portrayed here as one of the jurors.

From Quiz Isamu Noguchi

Answer: Black Slide Mantra

Some Noguchi pieces were deliberately made to be actively used by viewers. "Black Slide Mantra" was carved from black marble. It was placed in Odori Park.

From Quiz Paintings of van Eyck

Answer: A church

The incongruity of setting the Annunciation (which, historically, took place well before there were such things as churches) in a church has been much commented on, particularly since a stained glass window near the top of the painting depicts an adult Christ standing atop a globe. According to Catholic tradition, Mary was a temple virgin before her betrothal, van Eyck may have been referring obliquely to this tradition in setting the scene in a place of worship. This painting, like the "Arnolfini Betrothal", boasts a wealth of symbolic detail. The floor of the church is painted with scenes from the Old Testament, of which one can discern David and Goliath and Samson destroying the temple of the Philistine's, two scenes which refer to the destruction of powerful and evil forces by a seemingly defenseless and vulnerable individual and which, thus, foreshadow the New Testament scene being depicted. A beam of light falling upon Mary from one of the upper windows suggests another Catholic tradition which explains the Virgin Birth by comparing the conception of Christ to a ray of light passing through a window. Technically, the painting is a tour-de-force, particularly the depiction of the angel Gabriel, resplendent in robes of red and gold. One can almost feel the difference in texture between the warm red velvet and the sleek cloth of gold, and the pearls and gems which encrust the border of his cloak are amazingly detailed even when examined under a magnifying glass. An indication of the artists mastery of detail can be seen in the bit of diamond-paned glass window visible just over the angel's shoulder, through which one can see a building; on closer inspection, one can make out details such as timbering, a gabled roof, windows, and a bell-tower.

From Quiz Titian's "Flaying of Marsyas"

Answer: Sebastian

Saint Sebastian is a common nude study because he was supposedly martyred by being shot with many arrows.

From Quiz The Word Play of Xu Bing

Answer: Mao Zedong

The quotation selected insists that 'art is for the people.'

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