Art Flashcards
A review of prominent artists and their works. This deck is sure to make you feel much more knowledgeable on your next museum visit! Special thanks to the International Business Times, Wikipedia, and The Guardian for sharing your cultural knowledge with us! (63 cards)
Which Spanish artist of the painting Guernica co-inspired the Cubist Movement?
Pablo Picasso
(1881-1973)
A painter and sculptor of the 19th and 20th centuries, Picasso is best known as a co-founder of the Cubist movement and for the diverse styles he explored.
His major works include Guernica, an anti-war mural as depicted on the Question card, and Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.
Which Italian Renaissance artist painted The Mona Lisa?
Polymath: a person of wide knowledge and learning.
Leonardo Da Vinci
(1452-1519)
A 15th- and 16th-century Italian Renaissance polymath, Da Vinci is considered the archetypical Renaissance Man for his diverse talents and interests in the arts and sciences.
His major works include the paintings The Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and the drawing The Vetruvian Man.
The Mona Lisa is shrouded in mystery even today. People speculate as to who the woman in the painting was, and what her faint smile might mean.
The painting was once stolen, but was recovered in the early 1900s.
Which fresco painting by Leonardo da Vinci depicts Jesus Christ sitting down to a meal with his disciples?
The Last Supper
(1498)
This is a fresco painting on the wall of a monastery in Milan, Italy, depicting Christ’s Last Supper with his disciples (including Judas, who would soon betray him).
Fun fact: The meal was actually a Passover seder. (Jesus was Jewish.)
Which American artist and painter of Campbell’s Soup Cans was a leading figure of the Pop Art Movement?
Andy Warhol
(1928-1987)
Warhol’s major works include the film Chelsea Girls and the painting Campbell’s Soup Cans.
Although he was of Slovakian descent, being born to Slovak immigrant parents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he is widely recognized as an American artist because he spent most of his life in the United States and had a significant impact on the American art scene.
Which Italian artist painted The Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?
Michelangelo
(1475-1564)
A 15th- and 16th-century Italian sculptor, painter, and architect, Michelangelo was also known for the sculptures David and Pieta, and for redesigning Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
He is considered a Renaissance Man, rivaled only by Leonardo da Vinci, excelling in a variety of artistic disciplines.
Which 20th-century Mexican painter was best known for her self-portraits and feminist messaging?
Frida Kahlo
(1907-1954)
Kahlo was famously married to fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Her work is praised for its nationalistic and feminist undertones.
Which French Post-Impressionist artist was known for using small, repetitive brushstrokes to compose larger, more complex pictures?
Paul Cézanne
(1839-1906)
Cézanne’s major works include Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from Bellevue, The Card Players, The Bathers, and The Basket of Apples.
What’s the name of Michaelangelo’s famous statue, which now stands in the Accademia Gallery of Florence, Italy?
Statue of David
(1504)
David was a figure in the Bible who, as a young boy, defeated a giant named Goliath with a slingshot.
There had been other statues of David before this, but Michelangelo’s was the first in which David was not in action.
Which Spanish Surrealist artist is best known for his bizarre imagery like long-legged elephants and melting clocks?
Salvador Dali
(1904-1989)
Dali’s major works include The Persistence of Memory (as shown on the Question card), famously depicting melting clocks, and Swans Reflecting Elephants.
Which Norwegian artist painted The Scream?
Edvard Munch
(1863-1944)
Considered a Symbolist, this 19th- and 20th-century Norwegian painter and printmaker dealt with psychological themes in his artwork, The Scream being one of his most celebrated pieces.
From what large mural is this depiction of God creating Adam?
The Sistine Chapel
(1512)
The Sistine Chapel is composed of a series of paintings in fresco on the ceiling of the chapel and are interpretations of nine Bible stories, all from the Book of Genesis.
Which 20th-century American photographer is best known for her work documenting Depression-era workers for the Farm Security Administration?
Dorothea Lange
(1895-1965)
Lange’s most famous picture, Migrant Mother, has become synonymous with the Great Depression.
Which French artist of the painting Water Lilies is considered the founder of Impressionism?
Claude Monet
(1840-1926)
Monet’s major works also include Impression Sunrise (as shown on the Question card). His art is appreciated most from a distance as every detail comes together from a certain angle.
Which Dutch Post-Impressionist artist, who worked with bold colors and emotional honesty, painted The Starry Night?
Vincent van Gogh
(1853-1890)
Van Gogh’s work was only appreciated posthumously after his early death (thought to be a suicide).
His major works include The Starry Night (as shown on the Question card), Sunflowers, and Bedroom in Arles.
Which French Post-Impressionist developed the pointillism technique: the practice of applying small strokes or dots of paint that, from a distance, visually blend together to form a picture?
Georges Seurat
(1859-1891)
Seurat’s major works include Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (as shown on the Question card), and Parade de Cirque.
Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is a famous example of pointillism, a type of artwork created by making small dots on the canvas that eventually form a cohesive image. The painting took Seurat two years to complete.
What artwork, depicting two people draped in gold robes and kissing, is considered Austrian artist Gustav Klimt’s most famous work?
The Kiss
(1909)
This oil painting is considered Klimt’s most famous work and is an early example of the modern art movement.
Which Dutch artist painted the enormous 180 ft² (16.7 m²) artwork The Night Watch?
Rembrandt
(1606-1669)
A Dutch painter and etcher of the 17th century, Rembrandt is best known for his portraits, self-portraits, and illustrations of scenes from the Bible.
He was was a prominent member of the Dutch Golden Age, whose major works include Danae and Night Watch.
The Night Watch (as shown on the Question card) is famous for its large size, almost 12 feet (4 m) by 15 feet (5 m).
It is also famous for its use of light and shadow to depict the important figures of the piece and the atypical positions of the subjects.
Which French sculptor, whose famous works include The Walking Man, is credited as the founder of modern sculpture?
Auguste Rodin
(1840-1917)
A 19th- and 20th-century French sculptor, Rodin’s other major works include The Walking Man, The Burghers of Calais, and The Thinker.
Which French visual artist, who painted Woman with a Hat, was widely regarded as the greatest colorist of the 20th century, rivalling Pablo Picasso in the importance of his art?
Henri Matisse
(1869-1954)
Matisse helped define modernism in the 20th century, and his major works include Woman with a Hat and The Dance.
Considered one of a trio of Renaissance masters including Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, which 16th-century artist painted The School of Athens?
Raphael
(1483-1520)
The School of Athens (as shown on the Question card) has come to symbolize the marriage of art, philosophy, and science that was a hallmark of the Italian Renaissance.
Which Irish-born British artist, whose works include Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, is known for his use of raw, unsettling imagery?
Francis Bacon
(1909-1992)
Bacon’s art typically depicted figures trapped in geometrical cages set against flat backgrounds. Another of his major works is Study for a Self-Portrait - Triptych.
Which Dutch Baroque Period artist painted Girl with a Pearl Earring?
Johannes Vermeer
(1632-1675)
This painting, sometimes dubbed “The Mona Lisa of the North,” is infamous for its mystery. Experts still speculate on the subject of the work and what the subject’s relationship to Vermeer may have been.
Which Spanish painter and printmaker of works like La Maja Desnuda and Black Paintings, was known for his dark colors and honest depictions?
Francisco Goya
(1746-1828)
Goya was also famous for the Disasters of War, a series of eighty-two etchings done between 1810 and 1820.
It was inspired by the violence that Goya witnessed during the Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814).
Which French artist of Bal du moulin de la Galette was a driver of the Impressionist movement, known for his portrayals of feminine sensuality?
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
(1841-1919)
19th- And 20th-century French painter Renoir’s major works include Bal du moulin de la Galette, Nude, and Luncheon of the Boating Party.