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Semicircle of five easels with paintings evoking Renaissance, Baroque, Impressionism, Cubism and Abstract styles
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ArtEasy

Great Painters of History

The Mona Lisa painted between 1503 and 1519, The Starry Night, surrealism's melting clocks, The Scream of 1893, the golden Kiss of the Vienna Secession: 15 puzzles to find the artist behind each masterpiece, from the Renaissance to pop art.

15

Questions

2

Minutes

Tip: Use keys 1-4 to answer quickly

The 15 quiz questions

Question 1 : Who painted the famous painting "Mona Lisa"?

Possible answers:

  • Botticelli
  • Raphael
  • Michelangelo
  • Leonardo da Vinci

Explanation: Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa between 1503 and 1519. This portrait with its enigmatic smile is the most visited painting in the world.

Question 2 : Which Dutch painter is famous for his sunflowers and "The Starry Night"?

Possible answers:

  • Piet Mondrian
  • Johannes Vermeer
  • Rembrandt
  • Vincent van Gogh

Explanation: Vincent van Gogh painted The Sunflowers and The Starry Night, iconic works of post-impressionism.

Question 3 : Which Spanish painter is associated with surrealism through his melting watches?

Possible answers:

  • Francisco Goya
  • Salvador Dalí
  • Pablo Picasso
  • Joan Miró

Explanation: Salvador Dalí painted "The Persistence of Memory" with his famous melting clocks, an icon of surrealism.

Question 4 : Which French painter is the master of water lilies and the Giverny garden?

Possible answers:

  • Édouard Manet
  • Claude Monet
  • Camille Pissarro
  • Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Explanation: Claude Monet painted nearly 250 water lily paintings in his garden at Giverny, as the leading figure of impressionism.

Question 5 : Which Norwegian painter created "The Scream", a symbol of existential anguish?

Possible answers:

  • Egon Schiele
  • Gustav Klimt
  • Edvard Munch
  • Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Explanation: Edvard Munch painted The Scream in 1893, which became an icon of expressionism and modern art.

Question 6 : Who painted "Girl with a Pearl Earring", sometimes called the Mona Lisa of the North?

Possible answers:

  • Rembrandt
  • Frans Hals
  • Johannes Vermeer
  • Jan Steen

Explanation: Johannes Vermeer painted Girl with a Pearl Earring around 1665, a masterpiece of the Dutch Golden Age. The painting is housed at the Mauritshuis in The Hague.

Question 7 : Which Spanish artist painted "Guernica" to denounce war?

Possible answers:

  • Dalí
  • Goya
  • Miró
  • Picasso

Explanation: Pablo Picasso painted Guernica in 1937 after the bombing of this Basque town by the Nazi air force. This 7.8m cubist work is an anti-war symbol.

Question 8 : Which American artist is famous for his pop art portraits of Marilyn Monroe?

Possible answers:

  • Roy Lichtenstein
  • Jean-Michel Basquiat
  • Keith Haring
  • Andy Warhol

Explanation: Andy Warhol created iconic silkscreen prints of Marilyn Monroe, which became symbols of the pop art movement.

Question 9 : Which painting by Botticelli depicts a goddess emerging from a shell?

Possible answers:

  • Spring
  • The Birth of Venus
  • The Adoration of the Magi
  • Pallas and the Centaur

Explanation: "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli (c. 1485) shows the goddess Venus emerging from the sea. It is displayed at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Question 10 : Which 17th-century Dutch master is famous for "The Night Watch" and his chiaroscuro self-portraits?

Possible answers:

  • Rembrandt
  • Frans Hals
  • Jan Vermeer
  • Pieter de Hooch

Explanation: Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) is the greatest Dutch painter of the Golden Age. "The Night Watch" (1642) is his masterpiece, and he painted over 80 self-portraits during his lifetime.

Question 11 : Which Renaissance painter is famous for "The School of Athens", a Vatican fresco depicting the great philosophers?

Possible answers:

  • Raphael
  • Michelangelo
  • Leonardo da Vinci
  • Titian

Explanation: Raphael (1483-1520) painted "The School of Athens" in the Vatican Stanze between 1509 and 1511. This fresco gathers Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient thinkers in a grand architectural setting.

Question 12 : Which French painter abandoned his banking career to paint vibrant, symbolic scenes in Tahiti?

Possible answers:

  • Paul Gauguin
  • Henri Rousseau
  • Paul Cézanne
  • Amedeo Modigliani

Explanation: Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) left France for Polynesia seeking primitive, authentic art. His masterpiece "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" (1897) is an immense philosophical canvas.

Question 13 : Which Austrian painter is famous for "The Kiss", a painting covered in gold leaf?

Possible answers:

  • Gustav Klimt
  • Egon Schiele
  • Alphonse Mucha
  • Oskar Kokoschka

Explanation: Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was the leader of the Vienna Secession. "The Kiss" (1907-1908) is one of the most reproduced works in the world, with its characteristic golden decorative motifs.

Question 14 : Which Russian painter is considered the pioneer of abstract art with his "Compositions" and "Improvisations"?

Possible answers:

  • Wassily Kandinsky
  • Kazimir Malevich
  • Piet Mondrian
  • Paul Klee

Explanation: Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) is generally recognized as the creator of the first abstract work around 1910. A Bauhaus professor, he theorized the link between colors, forms, and emotions in "Concerning the Spiritual in Art".

Question 15 : Which country was the surrealist painter Frida Kahlo, famous for her self-portraits, originally from?

Possible answers:

  • Argentina
  • Brazil
  • Spain
  • Mexico

Explanation: Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) painted 55 self-portraits out of 143 canvases, a third of her work. Married to muralist Diego Rivera, she drew inspiration from her injured body (accident at 18) and Mexican folklore.

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