The Eccentric Artist Trivia Quiz

Answer: Post-Impressionism

Gauguin struggled against life-long issues with alcohol, self-destructive behavior and thoughts of suicide. While fighting these personal issues he developed a love for Polynesian cultures, which can be seen in many of his paintings. He had problems with hoarding and occasional agoraphobia. Gauguin was rumored to have had relations with some of prepubescent Polynesian girls featured in many of his works.

He died at the age of 54 of a morphine overdose, having suffered for many years from syphilis.

Answer: Pablo Picasso

Picasso was known for his lavish parties and the reckless abandon with which he had love affairs. The respect and admiration lavished upon him during his lifetime led to a bit of narcissism. A true pacifist, he was known to have written over 300 poems between 1935 and 1959. His sometimes abusive treatment of women and ranting fits of rage increased as he got older.

Answer: Leonardo da Vinci

Many things about da Vinci's life have been left clouded in mystery. While opinions have changed drastically with time, rumors of affairs with his young male models were considered deviant behavior at the time that he lived. He was also known to wear brightly colored clothing and wild hair. And as the old saying goes, "There is a thin line between genius and insanity".

Answer: Henry Darger

Henry Darger (1892-1973) was an unusual man who lived a very 'ritualistic' life that included attending Catholic mass five times a day. He was known to wander the streets picking up litter and keeping anything that he thought had value. His work was discovered only after his death in 1973. During his lifetime he produced a huge array of sketches, watercolors, and illustrations of playing children.

His masterpiece is a single-spaced fantasy manuscript complete with illustrations that was over 15,000 pages long and has the unusual name of "The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion".

He is known as an "outsider artist".

Answer: Ocelot

Flamboyant and extroverted, Salvador Dali lived his life by his own norms completely unencumbered by the preconceived notions that tend to rule the rest of the world. He surrounded himself with the finer things in life and kept an ocelot as a pet for years.

He was known to appear in public in brightly colored capes, sporting large gaudy jewelry and walking sticks. He was also known to keep the pen of anyone who asked him for an autograph!

Answer: Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarotti Simoni (aka Michelangelo) enjoyed respect and recognition during his lifetime, a feat that is often a rarity for artists. He was known for his foul-mouthed screaming rampages at his artwork, especially his sculptures and was known to hit them.

He was said to have slept with his shoes on, lived in squalor, and very rarely bathed or changed his clothing. He ate and drank only when it was absolutely necessary. His self-imposed social exile and possible depression can be seen in the themes of much of his artwork.

Answer: Sticky Fingers

Andy Warhol was an American painter and printmaker who marched to his own drum. A well-known hypochondriac he is also suspected of having suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder. For a while in the 1960's he lived in an aluminum foiled lined studio in New York City. An attempted assassination changed his life and his art for the rest of his life.

His will bequeathed his huge estate to create a foundation dedicated to advancing and supporting the arts. Warhol collected many things and after his death, it took the auction house Sotheby's nine whole days to auction off his estate.

His artwork appeared in various places including the 1971 album "Sticky Fingers" by the Rolling Stones.

Answer: False

Adolf Wölfli (1864-1930) was not Austrian but Swiss and spent most of his adult life in a psychiatric hospital in Bern. He was psychotic and suffered from severe hallucinations. Drawing with a pencil helped calm him down. His artwork was very intricate, complex, and powerful.

In 1908 he attempted to create a semi-autobiographical epic, which when finished was over 45 volumes in length and contained over 1,600 illustrations. In his story he changes from a child into a king. When not drawing, this tortured soul was lost in his own personal hell. Enter his name in any search engine to see some truly unusual artwork.

Answer: True

While Duchamp did submit the urinal, complete with the letters "R. Mutt" to this exhibition, but it cannot be proven that it was actually displayed. The name of this artwork was "Fountain". Many of Duchamp's works were what he called "readymades". Duchamp's work was not well known until he reached the age of seventy. Duchamp made his art to satisfy himself and no one else. One of his more noted works depicts the Mona Lisa with a moustache and beard. Most of his work is displayed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Answer: He shot himself in the chest

Dutch post-Impressionist Vincent Van Gogh suffered from severe mental illness throughout most of his life. It is speculated that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and bouts of severe depression. In his short career, despite suffering periods of time when his illness kept him from painting, he was a very prolific artist.

He was known to have longs bouts of sobbing and periods of catatonia. According to most historians, Van Gogh ended his tortured life at the age of 37 with a self-inflicted gunshot to the chest.