Rocking the Easel Trivia Game | Bands and Singers in Songs

Rocking the Easel Trivia Quiz

There have been a number of songs about artists and painters sung by rock musicians. Can you recount these ten?

A multiple-choice quiz by CmdrK. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The music may have died, and so did the artist in question, but who wrote "Vincent", sometimes misidentified as "Starry Starry Night"?

Answer: Don McLean

From the "American Pie" album, "Vincent" was released six months after Don McLean's megahit single "American Pie". The lyrics alluded to Vincent van Gogh's painting "Starry Night" as well as other paintings unnamed, and his life in general. The song was on the "Billboard Hot 100" chart for twelve weeks in 1972.

2. David Bowie had many influences in his life, but which artist was one of his main inspirations? He wrote a song about him in the early '70s.

Answer: Andy Warhol

Whether it was his artwork, or his ability to change appearance, Bowie took a liking to Andy Warhol and wrote "Warhol" about him in 1971. It was on his "Hunky Dory" album and was the B-side of the "Changes" single in 1972.

3. The Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh band who were influenced by a Dutch abstract expressionist artist. Who is their song "Interiors" about?

Answer: Willem de Kooning

De Kooning was one of the founders of the avant-garde New York School of art. He got to America from the Netherlands in 1926 by stowing away on a ship bound for Brazil. The Manic Street Preachers performed the song "Interiors (Song for Willem de Kooning)" on their 1996 CD "Everything Must Go", which looked at artists of several genres.

4. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec wasn't garroted, but who recorded a song about him?

Answer: The Stranglers

The English punk band The Stranglers recorded "Goodbye Toulouse" in 1977, singing about walking the streets where Lautrec lived. It didn't mention that he died from complications of alcoholism and syphilis.

5. One of the hit records of the psychedelic rock era was one about L.S. Lowry, performed by the Status Quo. Which song was it?

Answer: Pictures of Matchstick Men

Lowry painted many pictures of industrial districts in northwest England in the mid-20th century. The people characterized in them were often called "matchstick men". The Status Quo song was written by its lead singer, Francis Rossi, with Lowry in mind as he wrote the lyrics.

6. One of the originators of the Dada movement and Surrealism was a German painter and sculptor whom the Boston band Mission of Burma wrote a song about. Who was this prolific artist?

Answer: Max Ernst

Ernst became interested in painting from his father; his contempt for authority came from pushing back against his father's strict discipline. He began working in earnest (so to speak) after being released from the German army at the end of World War I. The band Mission of Burma, formed in 1979. "Max Ernst's Dream" was on their 2004 CD "ONoffON".

7. Chances are, Marc Chagall's paintings wouldn't make you cry, but who recorded the song "Painting by Chagall"?

Answer: The Weepies

Chagall was an early Modernist painter who also worked with stained glass, tapestries and ceramics. A Russian Jew, he moved to France to express his artistic style. The Weepies, an indie folk duo who originated in Boston, wrote the song "Painting by Chagall" for their 2006 CD "Say I Am You".

8. Jean-Michel Basquiat was a neo-expressionist artist in New York City. He died of a heroin overdose at age 27. Which group, with a name evoking Basquiat's problems, sang the song "My Little Basquiat"?

Answer: Cowboy Junkies

Basquiat's career began as a graffiti artist in New York's Lower East Side in the 1970s. His works matured into social commentary and the problems of African-Americans in a predominately Caucasian culture. The Cowboy Junkies included the song on their 2007 CD "At the End of Paths Taken".

9. Rene Magritte was a Belgian surrealist who, in his salad days, produced a number of paintings which were often a twist on everyday subjects. Which musician, who could be in his salad days, wrote a song about him?

Answer: John Cale

Magritte is often remembered for his paintings of umbrellas and bowler hats. His paintings have influenced pop and minimalist art. John Cale (like the salad ingredient kale, get it?), sometimes called an "art rocker", wrote the appreciative song "Magritte" for his "HoboSapiens" CD, which was released in 2003.

10. Pablo Picasso was one of the most famous artists of the 20th century and according to one rock band, he never had any trouble picking up girls. Which band would that be?

Answer: Modern Lovers

Pablo Picasso had several influences in his works, and in turn influenced many others. He is associated with cubism, classicism and surrealism. The Modern Lovers, from Massachusetts, are associated with punk rock, and are sometimes called the godfathers of the genre. Frontman Jonathan Richman spent much time at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Perhaps that's where he came up with the idea that while some men have trouble picking up girls, Picasso would not have had that problem.

Source: Author CmdrK

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Rocking the Easel Trivia Quiz

There have been a number of songs about artists and painters sung by rock musicians. Can you recount these ten?

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