The 20 quiz questions
Question 1 : The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! Mona Lisa indeed has no visible eyebrows. Some think they faded over time, others that it was the fashion of the era.
Question 2 : Pablo Picasso was French.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Picasso was Spanish, born in Málaga in 1881. He lived most of his life in France but never changed nationality.
Question 3 : The Scream by Edvard Munch was stolen twice (in 1994 and again in 2004).
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! The painting was stolen from the National Gallery of Oslo (Nasjonalgalleriet) in 1994, then from the Munch Museum in 2004. Both versions were recovered.
Question 4 : The Sistine Chapel was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! It was Michelangelo who painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512, commissioned by Pope Julius II.
Question 5 : Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi is the most expensive painting ever sold at auction.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! Sold for $450.3 million at Christie's in 2017, the Salvator Mundi holds the absolute record for an artwork sold at auction. Juicy detail: its authenticity is still disputed by some experts, and no one has publicly seen the painting since 2019. The Saudi prince who bought it has never confirmed where it is.
Question 6 : The Impressionist movement was born in Germany.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Impressionism was born in France in the 1860s-1870s, with artists like Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Pissarro.
Question 7 : Frida Kahlo painted more self-portraits than any other subject.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! Of about 200 works, 55 are self-portraits. She said: "I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best."
Question 8 : Banksy is an American artist.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Banksy is British, probably from Bristol. His real identity remains a mystery, but he is confirmed as being English.
Question 9 : Van Gogh's Starry Night was painted from a psychiatric asylum.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! Van Gogh painted this masterpiece in June 1889 from his room at the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, where he had committed himself.
Question 10 : Cubism was invented by Salvador Dalí.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Cubism was founded by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque around 1907-1908. Dalí was a Surrealist, a movement that appeared later.
Question 11 : Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel standing up, not lying on his back.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! Contrary to legend, Michelangelo worked standing on scaffolding, head tilted back, which caused him terrible pain.
Question 12 : Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon depicts women from the city of Avignon in France.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! The title refers to a street in Barcelona's red-light district (Carrer d'Avinyó), not the French city. They are prostitutes.
Question 13 : Monet suffered from cataracts, which influenced his later works.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! His cataracts affected his color perception. His late Water Lilies show more red/yellow tones, reflecting his altered vision.
Question 14 : Marcel Duchamp's ready-made "Fountain" is an actual decorative fountain.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! "Fountain" (1917) is an overturned urinal signed "R. Mutt". This provocative work revolutionized the concept of art in the 20th century.
Question 15 : Vermeer painted only about 35 paintings in his entire career.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! Johannes Vermeer produced very few works (34-37 attributed). He worked slowly and methodically, hence the rarity of his paintings.
Question 16 : Surrealism appeared before Dadaism.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Dadaism (1916) preceded Surrealism (1924). André Breton, founder of Surrealism, was first a Dadaist before creating his own movement.
Question 17 : Gauguin and Van Gogh lived together for two months in Arles.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! In 1888, they lived together in the "Yellow House" in Arles for 9 weeks. Their tumultuous relationship ended with the ear-cutting incident.
Question 18 : The Venus de Milo lost her arms during transport to the Louvre.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! The statue was already armless when discovered on the island of Milos in 1820. Her arms had disappeared long before, probably in antiquity.
Question 19 : The Klein blue (IKB) was registered by Yves Klein through an "enveloppe Soleau", not a patent.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! Yves Klein registered International Klein Blue with the French INPI in 1960 via an "enveloppe Soleau", a proof of priority, not an intellectual property title. The colour is therefore not legally patented, contrary to popular belief.
Question 20 : The Louvre is the oldest public museum in the world.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! The Louvre opened in 1793. The Vatican Museums (1506), British Museum (1759) and others preceded it. The oldest would be the Capitoline Museums (1471).
