Chapter 3: Principles of Design

Test Bank

Multiple Choice Questions

1.Design or composition is a process—the act of organizing the visual elements to effect a desired ______end in a work of art.
A. end B. aesthetic* C. painted

2.The strongest purveyors of unity in Benton's Palisades are
A. color harmonies B. conquistadors C. curvilinear rhythms*

3.When artists pursue a unity based on ideas, the work is said to have
A. variety within unity B. conceptual unity* C. absolute unity

4.One of the earliest artists to observe the human body's shifting of weight in order to achieve balance was
A. Polykleitos* B. George Segal C. Nike de Saint-Phalle

5.In works of horizontal balance, the elements in the ______parts of the composition seem to be about equal in number or visual emphasis
A. upper and lower B. left and right* C. inside and outside

6.Which kind of balance is achieved when the design elements radiate out from a center point?
A. radial balance* B. horizontal balance C. vertical balance

7.In order to have some feature of a work of art command our attention, artists use what design principle?
A. balance B. symmetry C. emphasis*

8.Scale refers to
A. size* B. placement C. repetition

9.Polykleitos' Canon of Proportions refers to
A. armaments B. the ideal human body* C. architectural design

10.A rectangle whose width is 1.618 times its height is called a
A. golden rectangle* B. root five rectangle C. golden section

11.The Doryphoros represents ideal form; Alice Neel's The Family pursues
A. the golden section B. unidealized form* C. the golden psychology

12.Beverly Pepper archives unity in Thel by maintaining a constant ______.
A. element* B. triangle C. curved line

13.Leonardo's Proportions of the Human Figure is an example of ______
A. approximate symmetry B. asymmetrical balance C. pure balance*

14.When your eyes are telling you that the elements of a composition are skewed but your brain is registering overall balance, chances are you are witnessing ______
A. asymmetrical balance* B. pure balance C. formal balance

15.Some artists aim to shock the viewer, or to play into a viewer's ______by creating works with imbalance.
A. comfort B. discomfort* C. sympathy

16.In Niki de Saint-Phalle's Black Venus, the artist uses the unbalanced position of the figure's lower body in order to give the figure a ______sense of weightlessness.
A. comforting B. funny C. contradictory*

17.The rhythmic interplay of line across the entirety of Jasper John's Between the Clock and the Bed has a degree of uniformity that is altered by a concentration of ______in the center
A. warmer yellowish hues* B. small lines C. cold bluish hues

18.The ceiling of the mosque at Córdoba is supported by a rhythmic progression of ______that span the distances between the columns.
A. lintels B. domes C. arches*

19.Frida Kahlo used ______to reveal an old-fashioned relationship between husband and wife.
A. rhythmic lines B. hierarchical scaling* C. bilateral symmetry

20.______is the comparative relationship, or ratio, of things to one another.
A. Balance B. Proportion* C. Rhythmic arrangement

Completion/Fill-in-the-Blank Questions

21.Of what artist was it said, "He searched disorder for its unifying principle"?
{{Stuart Davis}}

22.What unites the composition of Emma Amos's Measuring Measuring is the ______behind the work.
{{concept}}

23.In the weight-shift employed in Polykleitos' Doryphoros, tension and tension and relaxation and relaxation are read ______across the body.
{{diagonally}}

24.Pictorial balance refers to the distribution of the apparent or ______weight of the elements in works that are basically two-dimensional.
{{visual}}

25.In pure or formal symmetry, also known as ______symmetry, everything in a composition to either side of an actual or imaginary line is the same.
{{bilateral}}

26.In art, the effect of ______can be mesmerizing.
{{repetition}}

27.Nam June Paik's Fin de Siècle II, the United State Capitol, and Gertrude Käsebier's Blessed Art Thou Among Women have ______balance.
{{horizontal}}

28.______balance is frequently a major principle of design in art forms such as ceramics, jewelry, basketry, stained glass, and other crafts.
{{Radial}}

29.Artists use the design principle of ______to focus the viewer's attention on one or more parts of a composition by accentuating certain shapes, intensifying value or color, featuring directional lines, or strategically placing the objects and images.
{{emphasis}}

30.Lygia Clark's photograph of her performance piece Cabeça Coletiva possesses both actual and ______balance.
{{pictorial}}

31.Natural ______, or orderly progressions, regulate events ranging from the orbits of the planets to the unfolding of the genetic code into flesh and blood. The same principle can be used by artists.
{{rhythms}}

32.Scale refers to ______, small, big, or in between.
{{size}}

33.______scaling is the use of relative size to indicate the relative importance of the objects or people being depicted in a work.
{{Hierarchical}}

34.It is in part the play on the viewer's sense of ______that creates the visual shock and sheer humor of Marisol's Baby Girl
{{scale}}

35.Clothespin is just one of the ordinary objects to which Claes Oldenburg has lent ______by upgrading their scale.
{{monumentality}}

36.Polykleitos is credited with the derivation of a ______of proportions--a set of rules about body parts and their dimensions relative to one another that became the standard for creating the ideal figure.
{{canon}}

37.The geometric pattern or rule that dominates the organization of the east facade of the Parthenon is called the root ______rectangle.
{{five}}

38.The Golden Mean requires that a small part of a work should relate to a larger part of the work as the larger part relates to the ______.
{{whole}}

39.Oskar Schlemmer's Bauhaus Stairway uses ______lines and color to give his composition a focal point.
{{directional}}

40.In Varnette Honeywood's The Caregiver, the repetition of outstretched ______draws the viewer's attention to a tabletop strewn with first aid supplies and a Holy Bible.
{{hands}}

Discussion Questions

41.Name three different kinds of balance and distinguish among them by reference to specific works of art.

42.Explain how radial balance was used successfully as a design principle in the Native American Bella Coola mask.

43.What kind of compositional emphasis did Picasso use in his Family of Saltimbanques? How does this use contribute to the viewer's reaction to the picture?

44.How did Pannini want us to think about ancient Romans in his painting of the Interior of the Pantheon?

45.Speculate on Understanding Art's assertion that "In centuries to come, [Oldenburg's monuments] may say more about twentieth-century America than would a few more bronze riders on horseback." Do you tend to agree or disagree? Why?

46.How does Alice Neel's violation of "normal proportion" contribute to the expressive power of The Family?

47.Most people experience the Parthenon in Athens as a thing of harmony and order. How much does this impression have to do with proportion?

48.Explain how Archibald Motley, Jr. used the color red to help unify his Saturday Night (fig. 3-3).

49.How do Magdalena Jetelová's installations challenge the viewer to rethink history?

50.Write a paragraph explaining the relationship between the elements of art and the principles of design.

Essays

Name three different kinds of balance and distinguish among them by reference to specific works of art.
Explain how radial balance was used successfully as a design principle in the Native American Bella Coola mask.
What kind of compositional emphasis did Picasso use in his Family of Saltimbanques? How does this use contribute to the viewer's reaction to the picture?
How did Pannini want us to think about ancient Romans in his painting of the Interior of the Pantheon?