Art Galleries of the World Trivia Quiz

Answer: The National Gallery

In 1823 a collector called Sir George Beaumont offered to give his paintings to the state so that they could be viewed by the public. In the following year another collector named John Julius Angerstein died and his large collection was available for purchase, and shortly afterwards there was an offer of paintings from the Reverend Holwell Carr. Taking these opportunities into account, Parliament voted to start a national collection.

As the collection grew it needed more space so a gallery was built on Trafalgar Square. Later, some of the paintings by British artists were moved to the Tate Gallery on Millbank (now known as Tate Britain).

Answer: The Louvre, Paris

The Louvre was first built in the thirteenth century. At that time the Royal Family did not live in Paris but visited two or three times a year. When Francois I (1515-1547) returned after being held captive in Spain he decided to live in Paris so that he could be more informed about what went on in the capital and keep control there.

He had the building modernised but it was in the time of Henri II (1547-1549) that most of the work was completed.

Answer: Musee D'Orsay, Paris

The Musee D'Orsay collection is housed in the former Orsay Railway Station. This beautiful building stands on the banks of the river Seine opposite the Tuileries Gardens. It was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900 and has a glass roof allowing natural light.

It now displays art work from the period 1848 to 1914 and is the world's leading gallery for works of the French impressionists.

Answer: Uffizi Gallery, Florence

This painting shows a fully formed adult emerging from the sea after her birth. It was probably painted by Botticelli in the mid 1480s. It is a scene from Greek mythology and at the time it was very unusual for a nude female figure to be depicted on such a large scale.

It was previously thought that it was commissioned by a member of the Medici family, but experts are now uncertain of this.

Answer: The Hermitage

The gallery was established by Catherine the Great who had acquired an impressive collection of artwork from a dealer in Berlin. To this day the museum celebrates its inception on 7th December (Saint Catherine's day) and entry is free on that day. The gallery has over three million items, only a small percentage of which can be displayed at any one time.

It occupies several historic buildings including the Winter Palace, a former residence of the Tsars, and the Menshikov Palace.

Answer: Textiles

The Courtauld Institute was founded by three men who all thought that the arts should be opened up more to the working classes and not exclusively for the rich. Samuel Courtauld, whose money came from textile manufacture, provided most of the money. Viscount Lee had previously been a politician and had great energy and organising ability which he used to great effect on the project.

The third man Sir Robert Witt, a lawyer, mainly contributed a large collection of old master drawings and a vast collection of reproduction prints.

The Courtauld institute became one of the first art history education facilities and paved the way for university courses in art history. Today it occupies part of Somerset House in the Strand, London and has a remarkable collection of French Impressionist and other art work.

Answer: Lisbon

The Museu Colecao Berardo is situated in the district of Belem Lisbon in Portugal, and has a major collection of "modern art" representing cubism, dadaism, pop art, surrealism, abstract expressionism and virtually every other artistic 'ism' of the twentieth century.

The collection is housed in a beautiful modern building, which was opened on June 25th 2007. It was named after Jose Berado a wealthy business man who gave his art collection worth approximately 598 million euros, which formed the basis of the collection.

Answer: Los Angeles and Malibu

John Paul Getty opened a museum adjacent to his home in Los Angeles in 1954. This soon proved too limited a space for the collection and another gallery was opened close by. This was a copy of a villa in Herculaneum and is known as the villa. It opened in 1974 but Getty never saw it because he died two years before. On his death the museum inherited $661 million, and a larger centre was built in nearby Brentwood.

The Greek and Italian governments claimed that objects in the collection were looted and should be repatriated, And there has been a lot of controversy over this.

In 2006, the Getty returned or promised to return four looted objects to Greece:

Answer: He had a panic attack

'The Scream' was painted by Munch after he had suffered a panic attack. He said that he was strolling along one evening at sunset and the clouds seemed red as blood, and he sensed a scream going through nature. He represented the scream by a series of wavy lines that pressed on the figure, so that the face was contorted to a primal image of fear.

There are four versions of the picture In 2004 the one held at the Norwegian National Gallery was stolen and recovered several months later, and in 2004 gunmen stole both 'The Scream and 'The Madonna' from the Munch gallery.

They were both recovered two years later.

Answer: The Bargello National Museum, Florence

The Bargello building is a fortress building with embattlements. Work on it began in 1255 and in 1574 it became the residence of the chief of police and was used as a prison. In 1859 it has housed the National Collection and was the first national museum after the unification of Italy.

It boasts many master pieces such as works by Donatello, Luca della Robbia, and Michelangelo. It also has a large collection of bronzes, tapestry, and furniture from the Medici collection.