Chapter 4: Style, Form, & Content

Test Bank

Multiple Choice Questions

1.In the visual arts, ______refers to a distinctive handling of elements and media associated with the work of an individual artist, a school or movement, or specific culture or time period.
A. iconography B. content C. style*

2.Roy Lichtenstein's Forget It! Forget Me! has tell-tale attributes that connect the work to the United States in the decade of the ______.
A. sixties* B. seventies C. eighties

3.Through the ages, a number of characteristic methods of ______have developed that we refer to as style.
A. writing B. expression* C. speaking

4.______said, "All the really good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow."
A. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec B. Constantin Brancusi C. Grant Wood*

5.The term ______is defined as art which portrays, however altered or distorted, things perceived in the visible world.
A. abstract art B. non-figurative art C. representational art*

6."How can you say one style is better than another? You ought to be able to be an Abstract-Expressionist next week, or a Pop artist, or a realist, without feeling you've given up something" was said by
A. Lichtenstein B. Warhol* C. Rosenthal

7.While photographers have pursued photography as an art form and strained against the bonds of representation, the impact of Mapplethorpe's photographs is largely due to his unflinching ______.
A. realism* B. rebellion against representation C. insistence that only landscape can represent the human condition

8.In ______art, form and color are freely distorted by the artists in order to achieve a heightened emotional impact.
A. expressionistic* B. abstract C. representational

9.The term ______applies to art that departs significantly from the actual appearance of things.
A. expressionistic B. representational C. abstract*

10.Donna Rosenthal's He Said…She Said seems to tap into some sort of collective ______ballroom in its unique yet universal ruminations.
A. consciousness B. guilt C. unconscious*

11.Styles in art are numerous, ever changing, and ever new. The vocabulary we use to discuss style, on the other hand, has been ______for a long time.
A. fairly standard* B. completely unchanged C. subject to fashion

12.______has a strong influence on style.
A. Context* B. The viewer C. A major east-coast museum

13.Who said, "The duty of an artist is to strain against the bonds of the existing style?"
A. Pollock B. Kruger C. Johnson*

14.Twentieth-century proponents of ______reduced natural forms into largely angular geometrical equivalents.
A. Cubism* B. Pop Art C. Postimpressionism

15.The ______of a work refers to its totality as a work of art.
A. elements B. form* C. design principles

16.The ______of a work of art is everything that is contained in it.
A. content* B. form C. iconography

17.______is the study of the themes and symbols in the visual arts—the figures and images that lend works their underlying meanings.
A. content B. form C. iconography*

18.Who said, "My aim in painting has always been the most exact transcription possible of my most intimate impression of nature?"
A. Hepworth B. David C. Hopper*

19.The Mayan couple and Toulouse-Lautrec's The Two Girlfriends are ______but not realistic.
A. expressionist B. representational* C. similar

20.Who said, "Abstract painting is abstract. It confronts you."
A. Pfaff B. Kokoschka C. Pollock*

Completion/Fill-in-the-Blank Questions

21.Works of art can be said to have a certain ______, which is the totality of what se see—the product of the composition of the visual elements according to (or in total violation of) principles of design.
{{form}}

22.Broadly speaking, ______refers to the portrayal of people and things as they are seen by the eye or really thought to be, without idealization, without distortion.
{{realism}}

23.The painting by Lichtenstein, an example of Pop Art, departs from realism, adopting instead the visual clichés of the ______.
{{comic strip}}

24.The term ______art, often used synonymously with figurative art, is defined as art which portrays, however altered or distorted, things perceived in the visible world.
{{representational}}

25.The people in the Lichtenstein painting may not be realistic, but they are clearly ______.
{{recognizable}}

26.Jacques ______said, "Copy nature and you infringe on the work of our Lord. Interpret nature and you are an artist."
{{Lipchitz}}

27.In ______art, the artist freely distorts form and color in order to achieve a heightened emotional impact.
{{expressionistic}}

28.In The Burial of Count Orgaz, El Greco's expressionistic ______of the heavenly figures seems to emphasize their ethereal spirituality.
{{elongation}}

29.Kokoschka's expressionistic painting, The Tempest, is marked by frenzied brushstrokes that mirror the torment of his ______life.
{{inner}}

30.In Rosenthal's He Said…She Said, thoughts and feelings are broadcast plainly, as the (implied) individuals quite literally wear their ______on their clothes.
{{thoughts}}

31.The term ______art applies to art that departs significantly from the actual appearance of things.
{{abstract}}

32.No simple iconographic interpretation is available for Bronzino's painting. A Mannerist artist like Bronzino would have intended this ______.
{{ambiguity}}

33.In Male and Female, Jackson Pollock used a method called psychic ______.
{{automatism}}

34.Edgar ______said, "The artist does not draw what he sees, but what he must make others see."
{{Degas}}

35.The appropriation of the David image (Marat at His Last Breath) by Birk (Death of Manuel) validates the historic significance of the eighteenth century painting. Understanding the ______between the two makes each more meaningful to the viewer.
{{relationship}}

36.One of the issues that viewers have with nonobjective art is that they want it to make sense. But nonobjective art is just that—nonobjective—and viewers might come closer to the ______of the artist by allowing themselves to focus on what's there rather than to go on scavenger hunts for what probably isn't.
{{intention}}

37.Pictorially, David's Oath of the Horatii is groundbreaking. It compresses ______and forces us to concentrate on the figures in the foreground.
{{space}}

38.Bronzino's Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time (The Exposure of Luxury) is a classic example of works in which there is much more than meets the ______.
{{eye}}

39.In van Eyck's Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride, St. Margaret's whiskbroom symbolizes ______.
{{domesticity}}

40.Who said, "Text is almost always used to create cohesiveness between content and materials?"
{{Rosenthal}}

Discussion Questions

41.How does the brushwork in Kokoscha's The Tempest contribute to the emotional tone of the painting?

42.From the chapter choose a work that is filled with symbols and give a brief iconographic interpretation of the work.

43.Can the title of a work change its meaning or make the meaning clearer? Explain your answer with reference to at least one work of art.

44.The Mayan Amorous Couple embrace. How did the artist use the elements and design to formally strengthen the embrace?

45.Describe what things contribute to the form of a work of art. Refer to at least one work from the chapter in your answer.

46.Does Mapplethorpe's Ken and Robert attempt to escape the bonds of representation inherent in photography? Explain your answer.

47.How does the interaction of representation and abstraction strengthen Brancusi's The Kiss?

48.Discuss the two works by Mondrian at the end of the chapter: Composition with Red, Blue, and Yellow and Broadway Boogie-Woogie. Explain why one might contend that one of the works is nonobjective and the other an abstraction.

49.Explain the title of Barbara Kruger's Untitled (We Don't Need Another Hero).

50.From the chapter, choose a work that you think displays qualities of realism, expressionism, and abstraction. Describe how the three tendencies work together in the single work.

Essay

How does the brushwork in Kokoschka's The Tempest contribute to the emotional tone of the painting?
From the chapter choose a work that is filled with symbols and give a brief iconographic interpretation of the work.
Can the title of a work change its meaning or make the meaning clearer? Explain your answer with reference to at least one work of art.
Describe what things contribute to the form of a work of art. Refer to at least one work from the chapter in your answer.