Test Questions & Answers Living With Art Chapter 1

Living with Art, 12e (Getlein)

Chapter 1 Living with Art

1) What human ability seems as deeply ingrained as the impulse to make and respond to art?

A) Learn language

B) Hunt for food

C) Fight or flight response

D) Reproduce

2) What is the famous Neolithic structure in England, made of megaliths that once formed several concentric circles?

A) Megalopolis

B) Stonehenge

C) Jahangir

D) Chauvet

3) Radiocarbon testing indicates that the earliest images made by humans date back to what period?

A) Neolithic Era

B) Paleolithic Period

C) Jurassic Period

D) Bronze Age

4) Who said, "All art is basically Paleolithic or Neolithic: either the urge to smear soot and grease on cave walls or pile stone on stone"? 

A) Constantin Brancusi

B) Maya Lin

C) Anthony Caro

D) Vincent van Gogh

5) According to the author, why do humans have the impulse to create art?

A) To achieve superiority over animals

B) To explore aesthetic possibilities

C) To construct images and forms that carry meaning

D) To create order and structure 

6) How can the purpose of Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial be described?

A) It creates a space for contemplation and remembrance.

B) It emphasizes the mundance aspects of life.

C) It celebrates the victories of the American military.

D) It creates an extraordinary version of an everyday object.

7) What role best describes the artist's intention when creating the Shiva Nataraja statue?

A) To create a place for some human purpose

B) To create an extraordinary version of ordinary objects

C) To give tangible form to the unknown

D) To celebrate the familiar

8) What artistic purpose is illustrated in the text by the painting, Jahangir Receives a Cup from Khusrau?

A) To create places for some human purpose

B) To create extraordinary versions of ordinary objects

C) To record and commemorate

D) To give tangible form to the unknown

9) Although Vincent van Gogh suffered emotionally throughout his life, he was able to give his emotions tangible form in works such as ________.

A) Vanitas

B) The Starry Night

C) Shibboleth

D) Bird in Space

10) What are some traits that creative people seem to possess?

A) Playfulness

B) Efficiency

C) Analytical skill

D) Sensitivity

11) The sculptor Constantin Brancusi spent his life attempting to create what kind of forms?

A) Pure and timeless

B) Complex and refined

C) Complex and rough

D) Realistic and detailed

12) The nature of perception suggests that the most important key to looking at art is what?

A) Awareness of the process of looking itself

B) A strong art-history background

C) The ability to draw well

D) The ability to sculpt well

13) According to the author, what is the most important meaning of an artwork?

A) The explanation given by a critic

B) An art historian's interpretation 

C) The interpretation of each viewer

D) The work's subject matter

14) Vanitas paintings meditate on what subject?

A) The vanity of the artist

B) The vanity of the viewer

C) The importance of holding on to worldly life

D) The fleeting nature of earthly life and happiness

15) What type of work is Audrey Flack's, Wheel of Fortune?

A) Cave drawing

B) Vanitas painting

C) Abstract sculpture

D) Public monument

16) What methods were used by prehistoric painters?

A) Animal fats and pigments were mixed together.

B) Raw oil was used to make paint.

C) Megaliths were mined for paint glazes.

D) Powdered pigments were blown through hollow reeds.

E) Animal hair was made into brushes.

17) What work from your text is an example of an artist creating an extraordinary version of an ordinary object?

A) Kente cloth

B) The Starry Night

C) Shibboleth

D) Wheel of Fortune

18) To what do we owe our knowledge of Vincent van Gogh's thoughts about his own paintings?

A) The Van Gogh Research Society

B) MRI monitors

C) The many letters he wrote to friends and relatives

D) His autobiography

19) What theory explains the purpose of the drawings and paintings found in the Chauvet cave?

A) Paleolithic artists wanted to communicate with future generations.

B) The images were used in rituals conducted by shamans.

C) The painters wished to express timelessness and formlessness. 

D) Paleolithic people wished to capture accurate records of their hunts.

20) In an effort to give tangible form to the unknown, the tenth-century sculpture Shiva Nataraja represents what mystery?

A) The linearity of time

B) The destruction and rebirth of the universe

C) The importance of worldly virtue

D) The story of Adam and Eve

21) What is the primary symbolism of a vanitas painting? Discuss at least two artists from different centuries who have created such works and indicate the reasons for the recurrence of the vanitas theme in art of various eras.

22) List and explain the six social functions of art—or the purposes for which humans create art. Give an example of a work that illustrates each of the functions and explain why you selected this work to exemplify this function.

23) List at least five of the traits commonly associated with creative people. Then discuss one real person, living or dead, artist or nonartist, who demonstrated those traits you have listed.

24) Explain the process of "selective perception," indicating how this subjective process can result in differing interpretations of works of visual art.

25) Describe three works of prehistoric art, being sure to indicate as closely as possible when and where the work was created and also discovered. Consider the possible purposes for which the works were created according to historians and archaeologists. Relate these purposes to the function(s) of art discussed in this chapter.

26) Consider Vincent van Gogh's work, The Starry Night, included in this chapter of the text. Explain which function of art this work best fulfilled for the artist and how it impacts you as a viewer.

27) Consider the tenth-century C.E. bronze statue Shiva Nataraja. Discuss the importance of understanding the beliefs of the culture in which this work was created in order to develop an understanding of the meaning or message of the work. What cultural or religious function was the artist performing in creating this work? 

28) Consider both Stonehenge and the Neolithic stemmed vessel of the Majiayao culture, included in this chapter of the text. Discuss the possible purposes for these works, along with their aesthetic qualities and technological requirements. 

29) Brancusi sought to simplify and purify his forms. Discuss how he used tangible objects to convey the essence of a subject. Cite examples to support your answer. 

30) Compare and contrast the two paintings by Juan de Valdés Leal and Audrey Flack, discussing the context of vanitas paintings and how the two paintings reflect the society and culture of the time periods through symbolic messages.