AP Art History : Renaissance to Contemporary 2D Art
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Art History
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Example Questions
Example Question #391 : Renaissance To Contemporary 2 D Art
Which of the following statements is true of Post-Impressionism?
The four artists in particular who led the movement were Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, and Gustave Caillebotte.
Post-Impressionism sought to avoid reliance on formal elements such as color and form to express emotion and instead used well-known scenes and images to elicit viewer responses.
Post-Impressionist rejected pointillism and divisionism as too analytical and not freely expressive enough to portray human emotions.
It was a movement instigated by artists who felt the Impressionists lacked too many of the traditional elements of picture making in their attempts to capture momentary sensations of light and color on canvas.
The majority of Post-Impressionists rejected subjective expression in favor of objective representation.
It was a movement instigated by artists who felt the Impressionists lacked too many of the traditional elements of picture making in their attempts to capture momentary sensations of light and color on canvas.
The Post-Impressionists developed out of the movement of Impressionism, but felt it necessary to more systematically examine the properties and expressive qualities of line, pattern, form, and color. Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, and Paul Cezanne were leaders of this movement.
Example Question #124 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art
Works like the one shown here were opposed by which political movement?
Spanish Falangism
Soviet Communism
Italian Fascism
German Nazism
German Nazism
While Expressionism, of which Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Self-Portrait as a Soldier is emblematic, was highly significant and powerful in the 1920s' Weimar Republic, political changes also changed artistic tastes. When Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party took power in the 1930s, they targeted this kind of art for its association with bohemian lifestyles, intellectualism, and Jewish culture. In 1938, this piece of art was included in a famous exhibition of "Degenerate Art" put on by the Nazis. With such persecution, Kirchner's consistent mental health issues again came to the fore, and he committed suicide in 1938 by gunshot.
Image is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kirchner_-_Selbstbildnis_als_Soldat.jpg
Example Question #125 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art
In The Goldfish, Henri Matisse uses vivid colors in order to __________________.
capture the odd colors of the subject in nature
add a sense of confusion for the viewer
heighten the abstraction of the composition
create a contrast with the realistic depiction of the work
heighten the abstraction of the composition
The Goldfish is, fitting with Henri Matisse's work generally, an abstract piece, but one whose general forms and shapes are somewhat representational. Heightening the slight abstraction of the painting's shapes is the choice of color palette made by Henri Matisse. The bright, almost unnatural colors create a different perspective for the viewer and match more closely to other forms of abstract art.
Example Question #461 : Ap Art History
Which of the following artistic movements was heavily influenced by the freeform nature of jazz music?
Abstract Expressionism
Futurism
Cubism
Impressionism
Bauhaus
Abstract Expressionism
The eclectic, improvisational nature of jazz had a wide influence in other artistic forms. In particular, visual artists sought to take some of jazz's extemporaneous elements and apply them to painting and sculpture. This idea greatly influence Jackson Pollock's "drip method" and other aspects of Abstract Expressionist art from the 1940s and 1950s.
Example Question #127 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art
One of Andy Warhol's famous Marilyn Monroe-inspired pieces references what form of Christian painting?
Relief
Fresco
Mosaic
Silkscreen
Diptych
Diptych
Marilyn Diptych (1962) gets its form from early Christian diptych paintings that presented two images side by side. It was created using silkscreening, a method not used by early Christian painters. None of Warhol's Marilyns were made in the mosaic, relief, or fresco styles.
Example Question #392 : Renaissance To Contemporary 2 D Art
This portrait was painted in the Golden Phase of what Austrian painter?
Arnulf Rainer
Oskar Kokoschka
Egon Schiele
Ludwig Deutsch
Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt
This portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer resembles The Kiss and other famous Klimt works. The rest are other Austrian artists.
Work is in the public domain, image accessed through WikiArt: http://www.wikiart.org/en/gustav-klimt/portrait-of-adele-bloch-bauer-i-1907-1
Example Question #463 : Ap Art History
http://www.wikiart.org/en/gustav-klimt/portrait-of-adele-bloch-bauer-i-1907-1
What famous scandal is connected to the life of this painting after it was completed?
German forces seized it during World War II, leading to a prolonged effort to get it returned to the subject's family
The artist began an affair with the subject soon after it was completed
Several families have claimed ownership of the painting, leading to several lawsuits
The subject was dissatisfied with the portrait and sought to have it destroyed
The painting was badly damaged in a fire and required a lengthy restoration process
German forces seized it during World War II, leading to a prolonged effort to get it returned to the subject's family
German forces seized the painting and, after the war, Adele Bloch-Bauer's husband Ferdinand sought to have it returned to his nieces and nephews. A long court battle followed, and it was only in 2006 that Austria returned it to the family.
Work is in the public domain, image accessed through WikiArt: http://www.wikiart.org/en/gustav-klimt/portrait-of-adele-bloch-bauer-i-1907-1
Example Question #521 : Ap Art History
The Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn was particularly noted for his ability to __________.
use symbolic imagery
make sharp contrasts between dark and light
use classical themes
use abstract images and shapes
make sharp contrasts between dark and light
Rembrandt van Rijn was perhaps the greatest Dutch master of the seventeenth century, notable for his portraits and paintings on biblical themes. Rembrandt's themes and subjects were almost provincial, but his style built on Italian baroque painting that used strong contrasts. Rembrandt's ability to use darkness and shadow in unique and interesting ways is particularly notable.
Example Question #522 : Ap Art History
Figure 3 Figure 4
The painting shown in Figure 4 portrays a(n) __________.
geologist
king
priest
astronomer
astronomer
Johannes Vermeer did title his painting The Astronomer, but the painting also gives many clues as to the nature of the individual's profession. The placement of the man working in a study with tools indicates he was some kind of scholar, and not a notable figure in his society. The use of a globe, and his looking out a window, indicate his interest in astronomy, which in the seventeenth century utilized "celestial globes" portraying stars.
Figure 3: The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn (1642)
Figure 4: The Astronomer by Johannes Vermeer (1668)
Example Question #523 : Ap Art History
Figure 3 Figure 4
The image shown in Figure 3 is remarkable for portraying __________.
motion in a group portrait
members of the military
light and dark contrast
Dutch people
motion in a group portrait
In one sense, Rembrandt van Rijn's The Night Watch is similar to many other Dutch golden-age works, focusing on light and dark contrasts, scenes of Dutch life, and celebrating Dutch unity against the Spanish in war. However, Rembrandt's sense of motion and movement stands out in this painting, with every figure in the painting doing something and interacting with each other and the painting's viewer.
Figure 3: The Night Watch by Rembrandt van Rijn (1642)
Figure 4: The Astronomer by Johannes Vermeer (1668)
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