AP Art History : Twentieth and Twenty-First-Century 2D Art

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Art History

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Example Questions

Example Question #464 : Clep: Humanities

The French artist Marcel Duchamp helped to create what artistic movement?

Possible Answers:

Abstract Expressionism

Pop Art

Impressionism

Dada

Cubism

Correct answer:

Dada

Explanation:

Dada was an art movement that grew out of abstract and modernist movements in the early twentieth century. One of the most famous dadaist artists was Marcel Duchamp, a frenchman who began his career in a cubist vein, but then sought to make art that was less "retinal," or simply pleasing to the eye. Duchamp's art work challenged the very notion of what was "art," as in his 1917 "Fountain," a urinal Duchamp placed in the middle of a gallery space and only attributed as "R Mutt."

Example Question #81 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art

210px-juan_gris_-_portrait_of_pablo_picasso_-_google_art_project

The painting is a portrait of __________.

Possible Answers:

Albert Einstein

Henri Matisse

Pablo Picasso

James Joyce

Correct answer:

Pablo Picasso

Explanation:

The Spanish Juan Gris arrived in Paris in 1906 and helped develop the style known as Cubism with fellow young artists Georges Braque and Fernand Léger, and under the influence of Gris' fellow Spaniard, Pablo Picasso. Fittingly, one of Gris' signature cubist portraits is of Picasso himself, with a clear depiction of the painter that also features a cubist deconstruction of his clothing and surroundings.

Figure: Portrait of Pablo Picasso by Juan Gris (1912)

Example Question #82 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art

210px-juan_gris_-_portrait_of_pablo_picasso_-_google_art_project

The style this painting uses was influential in the development of __________.

Possible Answers:

Post-impressionism

Expressionism

Impressionism

Futurism

Correct answer:

Futurism

Explanation:

Cubism, the style employed by Juan Gris in the painting seen here, was part of the broader trend of modernism, which was concerned with technological innovation, new ways of thinking, and breaking with tradition. A style which took many of modernism's and cubism's precepts even further was the Italian movement known as Futurism. As much a political movement as an artistic one, Futurism embraced machine age technology, progress, and activity in a cross-artistic style heavily indebted to cubism's breakthroughs.

Figure: Portrait of Pablo Picasso by Juan Gris (1912)

Example Question #83 : Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art

Roy Lichtenstein's art can be classified as "Pop Art" because ___________.

Possible Answers:

it takes everyday, mass media visuals (like comic book images) and shows them in a new light

it shows how art changed in the nineteenth century

All of the answers are correct.

it examines three-dimensional forms from multiple viewpoints

it rejects typical or common forms of expression

Correct answer:

it takes everyday, mass media visuals (like comic book images) and shows them in a new light

Explanation:

Pop Art was a twentieth-century art movement defined by the way it repurposed and engaged with everyday, common forms of art, like advertisements and comic books. The other answer describes elements of cubism (viewing  three-dimensional shapes from different perspectives at once).

Example Question #51 : Identifying Artists, Works, Or Schools Of Twentieth And Twenty First Century 2 D Art

Which of the following works of art belongs to the Dada school?

Possible Answers:

Self-Portrait with Monkey, Frida Kahlo (1938) 

Fountain, Marcel Duchamp (1917)

L'Absinthe, Edgar Degas (1876) 

Guernica, Pablo Picasso (1937)

 No. 61 (Rust and Blue), Mark Rothko (1953) 

Correct answer:

Fountain, Marcel Duchamp (1917)

Explanation:

The Dada school developed during the last years of World War I. Duchamp acted as a major contributor to the Dada school, and his work Fountain was one of the movement's best-known and most controversial works of art. 

Example Question #421 : 2 D Art

Which famous, early-twentieth-century painter is commonly referred to as the father of Cubism?

Possible Answers:

Eugène Delacroix

Pablo Picasso

Frank Weston Benson

J. M. W. Turner

Winslow Homer

Correct answer:

Pablo Picasso

Explanation:

Winslow Homer, J.M.W. Turner, and Eugène Delacroix are known as impressionist painters. Frank Weston Benson is known for realistic paintings, American impressionism, watercolors and etchings. Someone familiar with the works of Pablo Picasso and the specific style that Cubism entails should be able to deduce that Pablo Picasso, of the choices given, is known as the father of Cubism.

Example Question #422 : 2 D Art

Which twentieth-century Spanish artist was known for his dream-like paintings?

Possible Answers:

Pablo Picasso

Giorgio de Chirico

Salvador Dali

Francisco de Goya

André Breton

Correct answer:

Salvador Dali

Explanation:

Dali is the only Spanish Surrealist artist in this list. Though Goya created many dream-like paintings in his Black Period, it does not fit the century specified, and Giorgio de Chirico is of Italian decent.

Example Question #423 : 2 D Art

Kirchner   selbstbildnis als soldat

Based on style, the work shown here was painted by _________________.

Possible Answers:

Georges Braque

Pablo Picasso

Henri Matisse

Ernest Ludwig Kirchner

Correct answer:

Ernest Ludwig Kirchner

Explanation:

This work, Self-Portrait as a Soldier, features vivid colors, slightly abstract forms, and a generally dark tone, all hallmarks of the German Expressionism that flourished in 1920s Weimar Germany. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, the painter of this work, was one of the leading figures of the movement, helping shape the group known as "Die Brücke," or The Bridge, which was a significant part of Expressionism.

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

Example Question #424 : 2 D Art

Matisse goldfish

Based on style and composition, the work shown here was created by _________________.

Possible Answers:

Paul Cezanne

Henri Matisse

Claude Monet

Georges Braque

Correct answer:

Henri Matisse

Explanation:

Henri Matisse was one of the revolutionary artists of the early twentieth century, reshaping and influencing the course of painting. Matisse was heavily influenced by Impressionism and early Abstract art, but often used abstract shapes and forms to enhance somewhat realistic depictions. In Goldfish, Matisse quite clearly presents fish in a bowl, but uses abstract shapes around it to create an unnatural and alluring perspective.

Example Question #425 : 2 D Art

Matisse goldfish

The work shown here most closely aligns with the artistic style of ___________________.

Possible Answers:

Surrealism

Impressionism

Cubism

Fauvism

Correct answer:

Fauvism

Explanation:

Henri Matisse was one of the leaders of Fauvism, an abstract art movement that had its fullest flowering in the first decade of the twentieth century. As compared to other abstract movements, Fauvism utilized largely representational forms, but exaggerated and heightened use of color brought more abstraction to their works. The Goldfish, shown here, shows many of the signature elements of Fauvism.

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