Fine Arts: Art History

Question 1

What is the primary goal of art history?

Answer 1

To arrive at an understanding of art and its meaning in its historical moment.

Question 2

Which disciplines is art history closely related to?

Answer 2

• Anthropology
• History
• Sociology

Question 3

What does art criticism focus on?

Answer 3

The explanation of current art events to the general public via the press.

Question 4

How do modern art historians define ‘art’?

Answer 4

Very broadly, including almost any kind of visual material created by people with special meaning or aesthetic appeal.

Question 5

What types of art were traditionally included in the concept of ‘fine art’?

Answer 5

• Paintings
• Prints
• Drawings
• Sculpture
• Architecture

Question 6

What is the significance of Pliny the Elder’s work in art history?

Answer 6

He sought to analyze historical and contemporary art in his text Natural History.

Question 7

What did Giorgio Vasari contribute to art history?

Answer 7

He gathered biographies of great Italian artists in The Lives of the Artists, providing insights into the roles of artists in society.

Question 8

What shift did Johann Joachim Winckelmann bring to art history?

Answer 8

He focused on a rigorous study of stylistic development related to historical context rather than a biographical emphasis.

Question 9

How has art history evolved in recent years?

Answer 9

It has become broader, more international, multicultural, and inclusive, often involving Marxist, feminist, and psychoanalytic methods.

Question 10

What are the two types of sculpture?

Answer 10

• Freestanding (fully in the round)
• Relief (projects from a surface)

Question 11

What is line in the context of art?

Answer 11

The path of a point moving through space, created by mark-making tools.

Question 12

What characteristics can lines have?

Answer 12

• Length
• Width
• Direction
• Hardness/softness
• Boldness/indistinctness

Question 13

Fill in the blank: A _______ defines a two-dimensional area of an object.

Answer 13

shape

Question 14

What differentiates shape from form?

Answer 14

Shape is two-dimensional while form is three-dimensional.

Question 15

What is positive space in art?

Answer 15

The area occupied by objects, shapes, or forms in an artwork.

Question 16

What is negative space in art?

Answer 16

The area around objects, shapes, or forms in an artwork.

Question 17

What is perspective in art?

Answer 17

The creation of the illusion of depth in two-dimensional artworks.

Question 18

What technique creates the illusion of depth by placing objects lower on the picture plane?

Answer 18

Foregrounding

Question 19

What is linear perspective?

Answer 19

A mathematical technique where lines recede into the distance and converge at a vanishing point.

Question 20

What are the three primary colors of pigment?

Answer 20

• Red
• Blue
• Yellow

Question 21

What are secondary colors formed from?

Answer 21

The mixture of two primary colors.

Question 22

What does the color wheel help predict?

Answer 22

The results of mixing hues.

Question 23

What is ‘value’ in the context of color?

Answer 23

The lightness or darkness of a color.

Question 24

What are black and white classified as in color theory?

Answer 24

Neutrals

Question 25

Fill in the blank: Intensity refers to the _______ or purity of a color.

Answer 25

brightness

Question 26

What is local color?

Answer 26

The 'true' color of an object as seen in normal daylight.

Question 27

What is optical color?

Answer 27

The effect that special lighting has on the color of objects.

Question 28

What does texture refer to in art?

Answer 28

How things feel or how we think they would feel if touched.

Question 29

What is arbitrary color in art?

Answer 29

Colors chosen for their emotional or aesthetic impact ## Footnote Artists have increasingly used arbitrary color schemes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Question 30

Define texture in the context of art.

Answer 30

How things feel or how we think they would feel if touched

Question 31

What are the two kinds of texture in art?

Answer 31

* Actual texture * Visual texture

Question 32

How do artists create actual texture?

Answer 32

Using materials like yarn, rope, or natural substances in their artwork

Question 33

What technique do artists use to create visual texture?

Answer 33

Patterns of lines or shapes that suggest texture

Question 34

What does composition refer to in art?

Answer 34

The organization of the elements of art

Question 35

What is rhythm in art composition?

Answer 35

The principle associated with movement or pattern through repetition of elements

Question 36

What is a motif in art?

Answer 36

A single element of a pattern

Question 37

Describe symmetrical balance.

Answer 37

Balance achieved when elements are repeated exactly on both sides of the central axis

Question 38

What is approximate symmetry?

Answer 38

A balance where shapes are slightly varied on either side of the central axis

Question 39

Define asymmetrical balance.

Answer 39

Visual balance achieved through the organization of unlike objects

Question 40

What does contrast create in art?

Answer 40

Interest to the eye and a focal point

Question 41

What is proportion in art?

Answer 41

Size relationships among the parts of a composition

Question 42

What does scale refer to in art?

Answer 42

The dimensional relation of the parts of a work to the work in its entirety

Question 43

What are the two-dimensional art processes?

Answer 43

* Drawing * Printmaking * Painting * Photography * Mixed media

Question 44

What is drawing?

Answer 44

The most basic of art processes involving mark-making on a surface

Question 45

What are the common drawing media?

Answer 45

* Pencil * Pen and ink * Charcoal * Pastels * Crayons * Felt-tip pens

Question 46

What is printmaking?

Answer 46

Mechanically aided two-dimensional processes allowing the production of multiple original artworks

Question 47

What are the principal printmaking processes?

Answer 47

* Relief prints * Intaglio prints * Lithographs * Screen prints

Question 48

What materials make up paint?

Answer 48

* Pigments * Binders * Solvents

Question 49

What are the four basic ways sculpture is created?

Answer 49

* Carving * Modeling * Casting * Construction

Question 50

What is architecture?

Answer 50

The art and science of designing and constructing buildings

Question 51

What is the post-and-lintel construction technique?

Answer 51

A method where a long beam is placed horizontally across upright posts

Question 52

What architectural development allows for greater height and open space?

Answer 52

The arch, the vault, and the dome

Question 53

What is the significance of the Crystal Palace?

Answer 53

It consisted mainly of glass walls held by a framework of slim iron rods

Question 54

What distinguishes Gaudi's architectural style?

Answer 54

Buildings with no flat surfaces or straight lines, appearing very organic

Question 55

What is line in art?

Answer 55

The most basic of art elements created by any mark-making tool

Question 56

What is the difference between shape and form?

Answer 56

* Shape: two-dimensional area of an object * Form: three-dimensional object with length, width, and depth

Question 57

What are the primary pigment colors?

Answer 57

* Red * Blue * Yellow

Question 58

Are black and white considered hues?

Answer 58

False