Hello, Dali Trivia Quiz

Answer: Salvador Dali

Unless you've never seen a piece of professional artwork, chances are you have come across "The Persistence of Memory". The 1931 painting, with its melting clocks, is unforgettable. This Surreal image was created by eccentric Spanish painter Salvador Dali (1904-1989). Dali was known almost as much for his idiosyncrasies and his mustache as for his art. One of his more famous and apt quotes: "I don't do drugs. I am drugs".

Answer: Grant Wood

"American Gothic" is a painting created in 1930 by Iowa artist Grant Wood (1891-1942). Wood painted scenes of the rural American Midwest, with "American Gothic" perhaps his most famous. It depicts a farmhouse with, according to Wood, "the kind of people I fancied would live in that house".

The picture shows what appears to be a middle aged farmer in overalls with a pitchfork, and his wife in a colonial print apron, both unsmiling.

Answer: Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) has been called the "Mother of American Modernism". O'Keeffe is known for her paintings of large flowers, in addition to New Mexico landscapes and New York skyscrapers. "Jimson Weed" was created in 1936. Jimson weed is a plant in the nightshade family, also known as Devil's snare.

In 2014, the painting was sold at Sotheby's for $44,405,000. Ms. O'Keeffe was married to famous photographer Alfred Stieglitz from 1924 to 1946.

Answer: Edward Hopper

It is hard to view the artwork of Edward Hopper (1882-1967) without having feelings of loneliness and isolation. He was a realist painter and printmaker, known primarily for his oil paintings, but he was also a watercolorist. Hopper painted both urban and rural scenes reflecting American life. "Nighthawks", depicting three patrons and a server in a diner, was completed in 1942 and is, perhaps, his best known piece.

It was sold to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1942 for $3,000 and is still located there.

Answer: Paul Klee

Paul Klee (1879-1940) was a Swiss-German artist who employed elements of Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism in his art. Klee and co-artist, Russian Wassily Kandinsky, both taught at the Bauhaus school of art, design and architecture. The painting "Red Balloon", using Cubist techniques, was created in 1922.

It shows geometric shapes, with a red balloon in the center which appears to be floating on air.

Answer: Mary Cassatt

Artist Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was born in Pennsylvania but lived most of her later years in France. You might say her friend, Edgar Degas, made quite an 'impression' on her work. She was the only American artist to exhibit her work with the impressionists in Paris.

Many of her paintings featured evocative portraits of women's lives. "The Boating Party" (1894) features a mother holding a child in a small boat being propelled by an oarsman. The depiction is open to interpretation, but it does show the woman elevated, yet confined and passive - perhaps a judgment of the time in which she lived?

Answer: Roy Lichtenstein

"Drowning Girl" is a typical piece of artwork by Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997). Lichtenstein was considered a 'pop artist' who painted scenes with comic strips (complete with thought bubbles) as his inspiration. He was part of the new art movement of the 1960s along with Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. "Drowning Girl" is a 1963 painting and one of Lichtenstein's most famous.

In "Drowning Girl" you can see a 'Brenda Starr'-like figure drowning, with tears in her eyes, while the thought bubble says "I don't care! I'd rather sink -- than call Brad for help"; melodrama and parody at the same time.

Answer: Jean-Michel Basquiat

Born in Brooklyn, Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was originally a graffiti artist. He was known for writing epigrams on the walls of buildings on the Lower East Side of New York City (in the late 1970s) as part of the 'street art' movement. In the 1980s he turned to neo-expressionist works. Unfortunately, the world was denied any further masterpieces his art might have created when he died of an overdose of heroin in 1988 at 27 years old. "Hollywood Africans" was created in 1983 and portrayed the movie roles which had been open to black actors...a topic which remains current!

Answer: Frida Kahlo

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was born and died in Mexico City. A major portion of her work included self-portraits because, as she said, "I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best". Her work has been described as 'naive art', 'folk art' or 'magic realism'. "The Wounded Deer', sometimes called "The Little Deer", was created in 1946; it shows an upright deer having been impaled with nine arrows, and with Kahlo's face on it.

As an aside, she was married to artist Diego Rivera (twice).

Answer: Keith Haring

Keith Haring (1958-1990) was an artist and social activist. His contemporary art style was influenced by Basquiat, Picasso and Walt Disney, an unusual combination, to say the least! His first drawings appeared in the New York City subways. His work was political in nature, and his style was unique and unmistakable. Haring was considered part of the Pop Art/Graffiti Art school.

In 1989 he created "IGNORANCE = FEAR, SILENCE = DEATH" as a plea to those fighting the then-deadly disease AIDS. While times have changed, the message is still a powerful one!