Chapter 2 – Developing Visual Literacy

Multiple Choice Questions with Slides

1. (Slide: Rene Magritte’s The Treason of Images) (fig. 16; p. 24)
In this photograph, the artist combines awareness, creativity, and communication by encouraging the viewer to look closely at an object. The artist is: a) Lorna Simpson b) Duane Michaels c) Rene Magritte d) John Ahearn
Answer: (c)

2. (Slide: Jan van Eyck’s The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini) (fig. 32; pp. 36-37)
Jan van Eyck’s painting depicts many objects that have symbolic meaning. The use or study of these symbols is called: a) content b) iconography c) form d) aesthetics
Answer: (b)

3. (Slide: Claude Monet’s Grainstack-Snow Effect) (fig. 27; p. 33)
In this painting, Claude Monet intended to express: a) the dynamism of the natural world b) individual landscape elements of Southern France c) his love of farming d) his feelings of solitude
Answer: (a)

4. (Slide: Marisol’s Baby Girl) (fig. 23; p. 30)
This sculpture illustrates a type of art called _______ art. a) nonobjective b) nonrepresentational c) abstract d) tromp l’oeil
Answer: (c)

5. (Slide: Howling Wolf’s Treaty Signing at Medicine Lodge Creek ) (fig. 38; pp. 40-41)
While in prison, Howling Wolf made many drawings such as this one, called _______ drawings because they were created on blank accounting notebooks. a) scraffitti b) ledger c) office d) calculated
Answer: (b)

Multiple Choice Questions without Slides

6. When works of art like Kasimir Malevich’s Suprematist Painting, Black Rectangle, Blue Triangle (p. 32) shows no reference to the natural world of images, it is usually called: expressionistic a) stylized b) simplistic c) communistic d) nonrepresentational
Answer: (d)

7. The Triumphal Entry page from the Shahnamah manuscript (p. 25), a sacred text, exemplifies the preference of word over image in _______ art. a) Chinese b) Japanese c) Korean d) Islamic
Answer: (d)

8. The symbolic hand gestures that refer to specific states of mind or events in the life of Buddha (p. 38) are called: a) bismillah b) handies c) mudra d) calliform
Answer :(c)

9. The terms naturalistic or realistic art (p. 29) are sometimes used to describe: a) representational art b) abstract art c) nonrepresentational art d) folk art
Answer: (a)

10. Abstract art (p. 30) reduces the world to its _______ qualities. a) bulk b) exterior c) structural d) essential
Answer: (d)

11. Lorna Simpson’s series The Park (p. 27) is a composition that includes both images and printed words. The text contributes to the prints in a way that makes the viewer more active in the work. What does the viewer become? a) an artist b) the subject of the work c) the form of the work d) a voyeur
Answer: (d)

12. Carl Andre’s sculpture Redan (p. 31) appears to be completely nonobjective. It does, in fact, have a source that can be traced to the real world. What is it? a) a figure lying down b) a flying Godzilla film monster c) an architectural feature of fortifications d) a work Andre completed before Redan
Answer: (c)

13. Why are images of humans traditionally banned in Islamic art (p. 24)? a) humans are thought to be a symbol of filth b) human images are not banned in Islamic art c) depicting a human is thought to be competing with the “creator” d) calligraphy is more challenging
Answer: (c)

14. In a work of art “content” (p. 32) refers to the: a) what the work expresses or means b) culture that produced it c) style d) way the work looks
Answer: (a)

15. Kenneth Clark illustrates an _______ reading (p. 34) with his comparison between an ancient Greek statue representing a “higher state of civilization” than a mask from West Africa. a)aesthetic b) ethnocentric c) Afrocentric d) American
Answer: (b)

Short Answer Questions

16. What is the relationship between form and content?

17. What subject matter is the artist Lorna Simpson most noted for?

18. What term is used when someone imposes his or her own meanings and prejudices on to the art of another culture?

19. In van Eyck’s Arnolfini “wedding” portrait, the dog symbolizes _______.

20. The habitual or expected ways (of seeing, for instance) of a given culture are called _______.

21. What is the chief form of art in Islamic cultures?

Essay Questions

22. Discuss the disadvantages of judging artworks according to our own cultural standards?

23. Discuss how representational paintings can be more abstract than abstract paintings using Rene Magritte’s This is Not a Pipe.

24. Compare and contrast John Taylor’s and Howling Wolf’s Treaty Signing at Medicine Lodge Creek. In your discussion, utilize the terms form, content, representational, abstract, ledger art, convention, and iconography.