Scandalous Art

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1. Now considered a stepping-stone in the birth of modern art, this painting by Pablo Picasso was first regarded with abhorrence. It depicts five naked women, geometrically shaped, and is named after a street in Barcelona, (in)famous for its brothel. Complete the title of the painting: "Les Demoiselles d'..." ("The Young Ladies of ...") Asnières Avignon Antibes Annecy

2. "I have seen, and heard, much of Cockney impudence before now; but never expected to hear a coxcomb ask two hundred guineas for flinging a pot paint in the public's face", stated famous critic John Ruskin, in 1878. The object of his harsh review was the London exhibition of an expatriate American artist, in particular his painting "Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket". The consequences: a big uproar, and a sensational trial for libel! Who was the painter, especially noted for his mother's portrait? Winslow Homer Henry Bacon James McNeill Whistler Frank Duveneck

3. "The one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous", declared the most eccentric showman of the 20th century, a Spanish Surrealist painter whose scandals made of him a myth alive. Who was that artist, most noted for his extravagant, curly moustache and such iconic images as melted clocks and burning giraffes? Joan Miró Man Ray Salvador Dalí Henri Matisse

4. A big surprise were the results of a poll conducted in 2004 among 500 international art experts. They voted "Fountain", a porcelain urinal, as the "most influential modern art work of all time", ahead of creations by Picasso, Warhol and Matisse. Who was the artist that shocked the establishment by putting on display an autographed urinal, and calling it "art"? Marcel Duchamp Juan Gris René Magritte Jackson Pollock

5. An absolute sensation, between rapture and outrage, was the international exhibition held in 1913 in New York that first introduced modern art into the United States. What was the name of the exhibition? Factory Show Gallery Show Armory Show Arsenal Show

6. This celebrated muralist was commissioned in 1933 to paint a fresco for the RCA building in the new Rockefeller Center. The result was a severe cultural shock for the patrons: in the provocative composition, titled "Man at the Crossroads Looking with Hope and High Vision to the Choosing of a New and Better Future", they discovered a portrait of Russian Communist Leader Lenin! That was too much to bear, so the work was first hidden from public display, then officially destroyed. Name the artist. Diego Rivera Norman Rockwell Ben Shahn Reginald Marsh

7. In the 1930's, the improper cleaning of a "treasure" housed at the British Museum in London, which allegedly damaged it badly, was not only an international scandal, but an additional reason for the country of origin to claim its property back. To what treasure am I referring? Standard of Ur Lindow Man Elgin Marbles Rosetta Stone

8. Indifferent to the beauty canons of his time, this Italian master of the "chiaroscuro" (dark-light technique) used as models old people, beggars, street urchins and prostitutes. One of his most "iniquitous" works was the "Death of the Virgin" (1601-1603), refused by its commissioners because the Madonna showed too coarse features, bared legs and a swollen belly. Who was that artist? Titian Correggio Tintoretto Caravaggio

9. In February 2004, a Russian oil tycoon purchased and returned to his country nine precious Russian works of art belonging to the Forbes Collection. A St. Petersburg's expert created a scandal by claiming one of them was a fake. What works of art were they? Odessa School Sculptures Early Russian icons Carl Fabergé Eggs Marc Chagall's paintings

10. It might seem odd in our days, but this celebrated masterpiece by Édouard Manet, portraying a reclining naked woman with a maid and a black cat, provoked storms of protest when first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1865. What is its title? Jeanne Desirée Olympia Aurore

11. ‘It is imagined that I do my work in a storm of controversy, somewhat like the atmosphere of a boxing ring’, complained this British sculptor in his autobiography. In fact, before his official consecration, he had to go through several public scandals, such as the destruction of his 18 nude "Strand Statues", for reasons of "decency", or the uproar created by his "obscene" angel for the Oscar Wilde memorial in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. Who was that artist, finally knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1954? Francis Bacon Richard Westmacott Anthony Gormley Jacob Epstein

12. The Parisian "Beau Monde" cried "O la la, quel scandal!" when this portrait by John Singer Sargent was unveiled at the Paris Salon in 1884. The monumental painting depicted a notorious American beauty living in Paris, erotically pale, dressed with a long, low cut black dress, in a sexually suggestive and haughty pose. What was the title of the painting, today housed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York? Lady S. Inconnue Madame X Miss G.

13. Gustave Courbet's erotic painting "The Origin of the World", which depicts graphically a nude female torso, has always been considered one of the most shocking works of art of all time. Banned from public view for many years, it was finally acquired by an important museum that engaged a special attendant only to observe the reaction of the visitors. What is the name of the museum, that also houses the finest collection of Impressionist masterworks in the world? Musée d'Orsay MoMa Tate Gallery Louvre

14. While he was guest in the house of his patron and friend, Dr. Max Linde, to portray his children, this artist refused to celebrate Christmas with the family, and preferred to spend it in a brothel. This was taken as an affront, and created a great tension between him and his protector. The event, though, as offensive as it was, gave rise to one of the artist's masterworks: "Christmas in the Brothel". Who was that painter, especially acclaimed for his anguished, screaming faces? Wassily Kandinsky Franz Marc Paul Klee Edvard Munch

15. A spectacular scandal in the world of art happened in the 1970's. After the suicide of this Russian/American Abstract Expressionist painter, his heirs started a legal action against his trustees, accusing them of corruption and fraudulent practises. The trial disclosed for the first time the secrets and machinations of the art market. Who was that artist, especially famous for his gigantic, colour fields paintings? Mark Rothko Willem de Kooning Clifford Still Franz Kline

16. Which Michelangelo's nude sculpture, often defined "the most beautiful man in the world", had to bear the affront of a fig leaf for several centuries (and still has in some reproductions)? David Moses Pietà Bacchus

17. Another male nude, "The Age of Bronze", gave rise to many rumours at the Paris Salon in 1877, because the sculptor was suspected of having used a casting. As often, the stir only served to make famous the name of the artist. Who was that sculptor, who carved such notable statues as "The Thinker" and "The Kiss"? Constantin Brancusi Aristide Maillol Henry Moore Auguste Rodin

18. In 1937, the exhibition "Entartete Kunst" (Degenerate Art) in Munich was the Nazi's official condemnation of modern art. Which German avant-garde movement, including the painters Beckmann, Nolde etc, was especially represented? Realism Classicism Futurism Expressionism

19. According to a widespread belief, two of Francisco Goya's most popular portraits depict the Duchess of Alba, with whom the artist had allegedly an adulterous relationship. The paintings, showing the noblewoman respectively "vestida" (clothed) and "desnuda" (naked), were accused of "obscenity", and the Spanish master was brought up on charges before the Inquisition Court. Under which fictitious name are the portraits known? Clara Laria Maja Dana

20. The Rococo painting "The Swing" (1766) was an immediate success, not only for its artistic merits, but also for the scandalous sauciness of the subject: a lovely young woman, while rocking on a swing pushed by her elderly husband, is secretly flirting with her lover, and their adulterous complicity is underlined by a statue of Cupid holding his finger to his lips. Which painter created it? Jean-Honoré Fragonard Jean-Baptiste Siméon Jean-Antoine Watteau Francois Boucher