Art History Trivia!

Approximately how old is the world's oldest cave painting?

• 5,300 years old

• 15,000 years old

• 64,000 years old

• 89,000 years old

Answer explanation

Humans and neanderthals painted many things: hand stencils, animals, depictions of ceremonies or hunts, etc. The oldest cave painting is in Cáceres, Spain in the Maltravieso cave.

Which artist is known as the "Queen of Polka Dots?"

• Renee Cox

• Pauline Boty

• Barbara Kruger

• Yayoi Kusama

Answer explanation

Since 1977, the artist has lived voluntarily in a psychiatric institution, and much of their work has been marked with obsessiveness. In an attempt to share their experiences, they create installations that immerse the viewer in their vision of endless dots and nets or infinitely mirrored space.

Which famous abstract artist was blamed for stealing the "Mona Lisa"?

• Paul Cézanne

• Henri Matisse

• Pablo Picasso

• Salvador Dalí

Answer explanation

Before its theft, the "Mona Lisa" was not widely known outside the art world. Leonardo da Vinci painted it in 1507, but it wasn't until the 1860s that critics began to hail it as a masterwork of Renaissance painting.

As news of the theft broke, an international dragnet quickly stretched from Europe across the Atlantic. The borders of France were sealed, and onlookers the world over were rapt and aghast.

Though this accused artist was in possession of stolen art from the Louvre and his own friends sent a tip incriminating him, he was not the thief.

Match the following pieces with their artistic movement

• Baroque

• 
• Impressionism

• 
• Art Nouveau

• 
• Surrealism

• 
• Ukiyo-e

• 

What did John Everett Millais' "Ophelia" depict?

• a marriage

• a drowning

• a birth

• a prayer

Answer explanation

Shakespeare was a favourite source for Victorian painters, and the tragic-romantic figure of Ophelia from Hamlet was an especially popular subject, featuring regularly in Royal Academy exhibitions.

Reorder the following from oldest (1) to newest (5)

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

What culture was the Statue of Liberty originally modelled after?

• Egyptian

• Roman

• Greek

• Etruscan

Answer explanation

Many historians say that the Statue of Liberty was modeled after Libertas, the goddess of freedom. Sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi was first inspired by colossal figures guarding ancient tombs.

In his proposal for a canal connecting Europe and Asia, Bartholdi designed a monumental statue of a robe-clad woman representing this country.

The proposal was eventually scrapped due to its high cost but the designs would find a home elsewhere. The female figure in the original design evolved into the goddess who would become “Liberty Enlightening the World.”

What is the name of this painting?

• The Musicians

• The Girl with the Pearl Earring

• Lady with an Ermine

• False Mirror

Answer explanation

No one actually knows who the girl is. Scholars estimate that the painting was complete in 1665 and is an example of a type of work called a tronie. Popular in the Dutch Golden Age, tronies were paintings that focused on the face of a subject with an added element of fantasy or an exaggeration of expression that differentiates them from portraits.

Match the below trademarked colors

• Barbie

• 
• Yves Klein

• 
• Tiffany

• 
• Wiffle Ball

• 
• Cadbury

• 

What is the last name of the American president depicted in this painting "- - - - - - - - - - Crossing the Delaware"

Answer explanation

The paintings commemorate this General's crossing of the Delaware River with the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.