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Quiz about Portrait of an Artist Giacometti
Quiz about Portrait of an Artist Giacometti

Portrait of an Artist: Giacometti Quiz


One of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century, Alberto Giacometti's name may not be the most well-known, but his works are unmistakable. Come have a look at the interesting life and career of this great artist.

A multiple-choice quiz by thejazzkickazz. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
114,178
Updated
Mar 09 22
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
508
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
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Question 1 of 10
1. World renowned 20th century sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti was ethnically Italian, but born in which other European country in October 1901?
Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Giacometti's childhood was replete with art experiences, his earliest childhood memories were of drawings he did of fairy tale stories. During his teens, he finally settled on art school, but his first significant emotional experiences with art came during a trip to Italy in 1920. Giacometti's most profound and psychologically devastating impessions were related to the work of which of these early Renaissance painters, famous for his frescoes in Padua?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. In the mid-1920s Alberto found himself in Paris, the center of the art world at the time. From 1922 to 1925, he worked under the watchful guise of which well-established sculptor?
Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. By 1925, Alberto had set up his own atelier, with the help of his favorite brother. What was his beloved brother's name?
Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Around 1930, Giacometti fell in with one of the leading avant-garde movements of that era. With which movement was Alberto identified until around 1935?
Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Before the outbreak of World War II, Giacometti was involved in an auto accident which left him partially lame. Though a terrible occurrence in his life, this incident did allow him an exemption from military service during the war. By 1941, with the dangers of war hovering over Paris, he made his way to which city for safety reasons?
Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. It was during the late 1940s that the characteristic style that made Giacometti famous was developed. Which of these descriptions best fits the typical work that made him famous?
Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. An admirer of Giacometti's work, which modern philosopher befriended Alberto and frequently wrote about his interesting sculpture and painting?
Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Alberto uttered several memorable quotes during his art career. One of my favorites relates to his obsession with the shrinking figure. Complete the Giacometti quote: "I could not understand it. All my statues ended up one centimeter high. One touch more and hop! _______________."
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. True or false: Though Alberto shunned fame, fortune and material comforts, he did eventually accept a prize for his sculpture.



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. World renowned 20th century sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti was ethnically Italian, but born in which other European country in October 1901?

Answer: Switzerland

Giacometti was born into a family of artists. His father, Giovanni, was a rather successful Post-Impressionist painter who had achieved a moderate amount of fame. Giovanni encouraged his four children, of whom Alberto was the eldest, to pursue careers in the arts and for the most part they excelled.
2. Giacometti's childhood was replete with art experiences, his earliest childhood memories were of drawings he did of fairy tale stories. During his teens, he finally settled on art school, but his first significant emotional experiences with art came during a trip to Italy in 1920. Giacometti's most profound and psychologically devastating impessions were related to the work of which of these early Renaissance painters, famous for his frescoes in Padua?

Answer: Giotto

Giacometti said of Giotto's Arena Chapel frescoes, "(They) gave me a crushing blow in the chest. I was suddenly aimless and lost, I felt deep pain and great sorrow." It was this euphoric emptiness that gnawed at Giacometti for the rest of his career, he never seemed to be able to fully achieve his objectives on any given project.
3. In the mid-1920s Alberto found himself in Paris, the center of the art world at the time. From 1922 to 1925, he worked under the watchful guise of which well-established sculptor?

Answer: Bourdelle

Émile-Antoine Bourdelle had worked under Rodin, and passed his experience and knowledge on to Giacometti. However, by the end of his four years under Bourdelle, Alberto had decided to embark in a different direction and abandoned naturalistic sculpture...a new phase of his career would now begin.
4. By 1925, Alberto had set up his own atelier, with the help of his favorite brother. What was his beloved brother's name?

Answer: Diego

Diego was a skilled artist himself, though he never achieved the fame and renown of his brother Alberto. Diego would very patiently model for Alberto much later when the latter took up the regular business of painting. In 1927, the brothers set up shop anew at the rue Hippolyte-Maindron, where they would work for the rest of their careers in Paris.
5. Around 1930, Giacometti fell in with one of the leading avant-garde movements of that era. With which movement was Alberto identified until around 1935?

Answer: Surrealists

Giacometti became friends with several of the Surrealist artists, for example the sculptor André Masson, in the late 1920s. This led to a period of experimentation with Surrealist concepts in his work. Alberto was never quite comfortable with this new 'Surrealist' label, and began exploring anew in the early 1930s for different inspirations. Like Masson, who had left in 1929, Giacometti eventually departed from the Surrealist fold when he began working once again with models, a cardinal sin according to the authoritarian leader of the Surrealists, André Breton. Before his official 'excommunication' could begin (there was actually a mock tribunal!) he stepped away from the movement...never to return.
6. Before the outbreak of World War II, Giacometti was involved in an auto accident which left him partially lame. Though a terrible occurrence in his life, this incident did allow him an exemption from military service during the war. By 1941, with the dangers of war hovering over Paris, he made his way to which city for safety reasons?

Answer: Geneva

Alberto returned to his native Switzerland, where he eventually met his future wife, Annette Arn (they married in 1949). During his period in Geneva from 1941 to 1945, he worked with his brother Bruno, a well-established architect.
7. It was during the late 1940s that the characteristic style that made Giacometti famous was developed. Which of these descriptions best fits the typical work that made him famous?

Answer: Elongated, emaciated human figures

The elongated figures that Alberto began sculpting around 1947 were inspired by his viewing of 'primitive' sculpture in the Parisian Musée de l'Homme. Clearly his work drew inspiration from works of African and Austronesian sculpture.
8. An admirer of Giacometti's work, which modern philosopher befriended Alberto and frequently wrote about his interesting sculpture and painting?

Answer: Jean-Paul Sartre

Sartre, the leading figure among the French Existentialists, became quite close with Giacometti. Indeed, Giacometti has been described by some art historians as the leading figure of the existentialist art movement, his emaciated figures being related to a sort of tragic existentialism. Alberto welcomed the friendship with Sartre (and Simone de Beauvoir) and was quite interested in the philosophic ideals of the Existentialist movement, but he wasn't ever quite comfortable with the attention he received as a result of this.
9. Alberto uttered several memorable quotes during his art career. One of my favorites relates to his obsession with the shrinking figure. Complete the Giacometti quote: "I could not understand it. All my statues ended up one centimeter high. One touch more and hop! _______________."

Answer: The statue vanishes

Giacometti commented on this phenomenon his entire life. It seems that as a boy, when he would paint, his subject would diminish in size upon the canvas. Similarly, in his sculpting career he would go through periods where his works would diminish in size until they could fit into a matchbox. His emaciated figures also reflect this 'shrinking feeling'.
10. True or false: Though Alberto shunned fame, fortune and material comforts, he did eventually accept a prize for his sculpture.

Answer: True

In 1962 he received a prize at the Venice Biennale. Though he wished to avoid such accolades (Simone de Beauvoir, "Success, fame, money - Giacometti was indifferent to them all."), he realized late in his career the pleasure of a limited amount of recognition, which brought him some joy regarding his accomplishments.

The joy would not last long though, he died in 1966 in his native land of Switzerland. We are left only with the legacy of his wonderful vision. Thank you for trying this quiz, I hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to see more, I have created a number of similar quizzes on various other artists...I invite you to try them.
Source: Author thejazzkickazz

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