Art at Random Quiz

Question: Which one of these is a Greek vessel made of metal or pottery?

Answer: A krater is an ancient Greek vessel used for diluting wine with water. Kraters were made of metal or pottery and were often painted or elaborately ornamented.

Question: What term is used to describe the fixing of pigments with heated wax?

Answer: Encaustic painting was invented by the ancient Greeks. Pigments are mixed with hot liquid wax, and, after all the colours have been applied to the painting surface, a heating element is passed over them until the individual brush or spatula marks fuse into a uniform film. This “burning in” of the colours is an essential element of the true encaustic technique.

Question: Where did Suzhou embroidery originate?

Answer: Suzhou embroidery is produced at or near the city of Suzhou, in Jiangsu province, China. In this type of embroidery, silk, satin, and other textiles are decorated using soft, coloured silk threads. The Suzhou school is one of the four most famous schools of embroidery in China (the others being centred in Hunan, Guangdong, and Sichuan provinces).

Question: Which style of painting uses water-based pigments on freshly applied plaster?

Answer: The fresco method of painting is used usually on wall surfaces. The colours, which are made by grinding dry-powder pigments in pure water, dry and set with the plaster to become a permanent part of the wall. Fresco painting is ideal for making murals because it lends itself to a monumental style, is durable, and has a matte surface.

Question: What architect founded the school of design, architecture, and applied arts known as the Bauhaus?

Answer: The Bauhaus was founded by the architect Walter Gropius, who combined two schools, the Weimar Academy of Arts and the Weimar School of Arts and Crafts, into what he called the Bauhaus, or “house of building,” a name derived by inverting the German word Hausbau, “building of a house.”

Question: The Glasgow School of Art is an example of which style of architecture?

Answer: The ornamental style of art that flourished between about 1890 and 1910 throughout Europe and the United States is called Art Nouveau. It is characterized by the use of a long, sinuous, organic line and was employed most often in architecture, interior design, jewelry and glass design, posters, and illustration. Art Nouveau developed first in England and soon spread to the European continent. The Glasgow School of Art (1896–1909), designed by the Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, is considered the first original example of Art Nouveau architecture in Great Britain.

Question: Which art style did the painter Claude Monet initiate?

Answer: The first steps toward a systematic Impressionist style were taken in France in Claude Monet’s coast scenes from 1866 onward, notably in Terrace (1866), in which he chose a subject that allowed use of a full palette of primary colour. The decisive development took place in 1869, when Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir painted together at the resort of La Grenouillère on the Seine River.

Question: Where did Hedwig glass originate?

Answer: Hedwig glass originated in Egypt in the 11th or 12th century. Carried to Europe by returning Crusaders, examples of this glass often became the property of Western churches. The name derives from St. Hedwig, patron saint of Silesia, who allegedly performed a wine miracle in one of these glasses.