AP Art History : Identifying artists, works, or schools of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century 2D art

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Art History

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Identifying Artists, Works, And Schools Of Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Visual Art

Who was the painter of the odd court painting Las Meninas?

Possible Answers:

Titian

Raphael

Diego Velazquez

Hans Holbein

El Greco

Correct answer:

Diego Velazquez

Explanation:

Diego Velazquez was an idiosyncratic painter who became the offical court painter for the Spanish king Philip IV. Velazquez's unique composition style, love of odd subjects, and expressive portrait style found its culmination in Las Meninas, a 1656 painting that shows the daughters of the King with their attendants and the painter in a large room with people coming and going. The painting was so remarkable that Pablo Picasso made a cubist version of it in the twentieth century.

Example Question #11 : Identifying Artists, Works, Or Schools Of Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

Markers of the artistic style of the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) include all of the following EXCEPT __________.

Possible Answers:

the insertion of himself into his group paintings

portraits of individuals

dramatic use of lighting

a use of very rich and dark colors

large-form landscapes

Correct answer:

large-form landscapes

Explanation:

Rembrandt van Rijn was one of the great masters of the Dutch Golden Age of painting during the seventeenth century. His style was notable for featuring bold colors and dramatic lighting in "everyday scenes" of commonfolk, as well as portraits and scenes out of the Bible. Almost all of Rembrandt's paintings featured people, and he almost never drew landscapes.

Example Question #1 : Answering Other Questions About 2 D Visual Art

The artist Francisco Goya is from what country?

Possible Answers:

Brazil

Spain

Argentina

France

Italy

Correct answer:

Spain

Explanation:

Francisco Goya is from Spain.

Example Question #12 : Identifying Artists, Works, Or Schools Of Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

The painter Gilbert Stuart was most well-known for his __________.

Possible Answers:

portraits

domestic scenes

historic paintings

landscapes

still lifes

Correct answer:

portraits

Explanation:

Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828) was one of the very first well known American painters. During the Revolutionary Era, Stuart became essentially the "court painter" of the early American government because of his portraits of leading figures. Stuart's work includes the most famous portraits of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and many other of America's Founding Fathers.

Example Question #44 : Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

Jean-Antoine Watteau's specialty can best be described as __________.

Possible Answers:

Grand manner

Satirical works

Celiing paintings 

Fête galante

Correct answer:

Fête galante

Explanation:

Watteau's specialty was fête galante, a style of eighteenth-century painting that depicts aristocrats walking through forested scenes. Ceiling paintings were painted by Giambattista Tiepolo. Satirical pieces during the Rococo era included William Hogarth's Marriage à la Mode. Grand manner is a style of eighteenth-century works that featured figures posed as ancient statues or accompanied by classical architectural features. 

Example Question #45 : Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

 A

On the basis of style, this work can be attributed to which of the following artists?

Possible Answers:

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Johannes Vermeer

Caravaggio

Diego Velásquez

Rembrandt van Rijn

Correct answer:

Johannes Vermeer

Explanation:

Johannes Vermeer, one of the most renowned painters of the Dutch Golden Age, is known for his portrayals of genre scenes that most often depicted women. Many of his compositions show a single figure framed by the light emanating from a window.

Image: Young Woman with a Water Pitcher by Johannes Vermeer (c. 1660–1665). From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_with_a_Water_Jug#/media/File:Jan_Vermeer_van_Delft_019.jpg.

Example Question #46 : Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

Las meninas 01

On the basis of style, the above work can be attributed to ____________________.

Possible Answers:

Anthony van Dyck

Caravaggio

Diego Velazquez

Rembrandt van Rijn

Correct answer:

Diego Velazquez

Explanation:

While Diego Velazquez had many similarities to his Baroque contemporaries, notably a strong contrast between light and dark elements, he also had a number of distinguishing characteristics. Velazquez' portrayal of his subjects was much more unflinching than other seventeenth century artists, demonstrating an ability to accurately but sympathetically show the faults of his subjects. Additionally, the color palette used by the Spaniard Velazquez was more muted than painters in other parts of Europe in the 1600s.

Image is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Las_Meninas,_by_Diego_Velázquez,_from_Prado_in_Google_Earth.jpg

Example Question #47 : Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

Self portrait with saskia

The work shown here was created in which European country?

Possible Answers:

England

The Netherlands

Italy

Spain

Correct answer:

The Netherlands

Explanation:

While an etching rather than his signature paintings, this work shows many hallmarks of the artist Rembrandt van Rijn, which were also signature elements of his fellow artists working in the Netherlands. Self-Portrait with Saskia, which is shown here, not only pictures Rembrandt, but also focuses on everyday people in everyday clothing. The work also has a number of examples of strong contrast, which was a hallmark of Dutch Golden Age painting.

Image is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Self-portrait_with_Saskia.jpg

Example Question #48 : Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

Self portrait with saskia

The medium in which the work shown here was created was ___________________.

Possible Answers:

etching

oil-on-canvas painting

watercolor-on-paper painting

ink drawing

Correct answer:

etching

Explanation:

This work by Rembrandt van Rijn, known as Self-Portrait with Saskia, is one of his many etchings. An etching, which involved carving an image into a metal plate, then printing it onto paper, was an easier work to produce than a large-scale painting and easier to reproduce. Etchings were much more commonly passed around Europe, making Rembrandt's fame in the seventeenth century much more than his paintings.

Image is in the public domain, accessed through Wikipedia Media Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Self-portrait_with_Saskia.jpg

Example Question #16 : Identifying Artists, Works, Or Schools Of Seventeenth And Eighteenth Century 2 D Art

Markers of the artistic style of the Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) include all of the following EXCEPT __________.

Possible Answers:

the insertion of himself into his group paintings

dramatic use of lighting

portraits of individuals

large-form landscapes

a use of very rich and dark colors

Correct answer:

large-form landscapes

Explanation:

Rembrandt van Rijn was one of the great masters of the Dutch Golden Age of painting during the seventeenth century. His style was notable for featuring bold colors and dramatic lighting in "everyday scenes" of commonfolk, as well as portraits and scenes out of the Bible. Almost all of Rembrandt's paintings featured people, and he almost never drew landscapes.

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