'S'uperb Art Terms Trivia Quiz

Answer: Silhouette

Forgive me for forcing you to spell such an unreasonable word, but I couldn't imagine any other way to present this question! The term silhouette comes from the name of one Etienne de Silhouette (1706-67), an individual known more for his reputation as a tightwad than for his aesthetic talents. The practice of creating silhouettes involves cutting out black paper figures resembling people and/or scenes, and placing said cutouts on a white background. Photography essentially killed off the silhouette, but it's still a wonderful hobby for children.

Answer: Sotto in sù

Sotto in sù (Italian: from below upwards) is often associated with the Baroque movement, but it was established as a technique well before this. The first known example of this technique is in Mantua, Mantegna's 'Camera degli Sposi' in the Palazzo Ducale. Michelangelo also used this technique in some of his paintings on the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

Answer: Salon des Refusés

In a year when a number of fine artists were denied the right to exhibit at the official Salon, the Emperor Napoleon III ordered that an alternate exhibition be held, the Salon des Refusés. Aside from Manet's masterpiece, a number of other avant-garde artists were allowed to exhibit there, including Pissarro, Whistler, Cézanne, Boudin and Fantin-Latour.

Its enormous success, despite criticisms from the conservative art public, led to other independent exhibitions, and helped launch the Impressionist movement in France.

Answer: Still life

When one thinks of the paintings of any of these three artists, the term 'still life' must come to mind immediately. Of course, it could be debated that they were the greatest French still life painters of their centuries (Moillon - 17th, Chardin - 18th, Cézanne - 19th), but that is what art history is about...debate and critique!

Answer: Sfumato

The term sfumato is from the Italian, and derives from the terms for smoke (fumo), and can also bear the meaning 'evaporated' or 'shaded off'. Leonardo described the technique as without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke.' And he would know, he still remains the master at the technique...see his 'Madonna on the Rocks' for a full and wonderful example.

Answer: Gustav Klimt

The Sezessionists included Klimt in Vienna, Frank von Stuck and Wilhelm Trübner in Munich and Max Liebermann in Berlin. Of course, the Sezessionists themselves became entrenched and conservative after a number of years, and this led to the founding of yet more avant-guard groups, for example Die Brücke.

Answer: Slip

The term slip is of somewhat obscure origin, it possibly is derived from a Scandinavian word 'slipa', meaning 'slime'. The best examples of the use of slip that I have seen are in Japanese and Korean pottery. I exhort you to check out your nearest Asian art museum to have a look!

Answer: Alexander Calder

The year prior, fellow French Dada artist Marcel Duchamp had coined the term 'Mobile' to describe Calder's signature hanging, kinetic art pieces. The next year, Jean Arp cleverly adapted the term 'Stabile' to describe Calder's non-ambulatory sculptures. Can one not but love the wonderful imaginations of these colorful Dadaists?

Answer: Stylobate

The Stylobate (a word from the Greek meaning 'pillar base') is but the top level of the stereobate (from the Greek meaning 'solid base'), the structure which forms the foundation for an ancient greek temple. Typically, the stereobate (including the stylobate) is a three-tiered structure.

Answer: Surrealism

Of course, Dali, Magritte and Breton were not the only Surrealists, their ranks also included such master-artists and poets as Ernst, Masson, Delvaux and several other wunderkinds of the art world. I would like to revive Surrealism through quizmaking, a sort of neo-Surrealist quiz movement...anybody with me? No? Well, thank you for having gotten this far anyhow, I invite you to try my other art terms quizzes.