Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist, known for his thought-provoking work, who has influenced pop art, minimalist art and conceptual art. "The Lovers" ("Les Amants") is an oil on canvas that was painted in 1928. It depicts two people engaged in a kiss, with a close up on their faces.
There is a twist to this scene, their faces are entirely covered in a white shroud-like cloth which makes the painting rather unsettling.
2. Waterloo Bridge
Answer: Claude Monet
Claude Monet is the father of French Impressionist paintings, known for works such as "Springtime" and his extremely famous "Water Lilies" collection of paintings. "Waterloo Bridge" is a collection of forty-one paintings on the subject of this London bridge and a sub-series of a larger collection of work called the 'London Series'. "Waterloo Bridge" is a collection of gorgeous paintings, true to impressionism in that the subject matter is a landscape, the painting is of the outdoors and there is no black in the painting.
The paintings are a series of beautiful takes on the bridge through fog, nighttime, twilight and clouds.
3. Christ of Saint John of the Cross
Answer: Salvador Dali
Dali is a Spanish surrealist painter known for his dramatic and bizarre art. His most famous work is "The Persistence of Memory." "Christ of Saint John of the Cross" is a 1951 painting that apparently came to Dali in a dream. It depicts Christ on the cross but without any blood, nails or crown of thorns.
The cross is painted floating in a black sky, with the body of Christ bathed in a golden light and looking down over a body of water. The viewer is looking down at the top of Christ's head and does not see his face but has a view of the painful way his body is positioned on the cross.
The painting is not without controversy and was called "kitsch and lurid" by one art critic in 2009.
4. Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
Answer: Paul Gauguin
Gauguin is a French post-impressionist painter who has influenced Picasso and Henri Matisse. "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?" was painted in Tahiti in 1897-1898 and is considered a masterpiece. The painting depicts a number of female figures in various stages of life, from infancy to old age and is meant to symbolize the phases of life - birth, sin and death - from a female perspective.
In the center of the painting is a woman picking an apple and also in the painting is a blue figure that looks like a God, to symbolize what may be beyond death. Gauguin signed and dated the painting in the top right hand corner.
5. The Dog
Answer: Francisco Goya
Goya is a Spanish romantic painter. His group of paintings known as the "Black Paintings" are a series of disturbing and haunting paintings that he created toward the end of his life. "The Dog" is one of these paintings and it is one of my all time favorite paintings.
There is very little going on in this painting, the top of the painting is a clay color and there is a large slope in the bottom right that is darker brown. Hidden for the most part by this brown slope is a dog. All the viewer can see is the small head of the dog looking up toward the top of the slope.
The body is completely engulfed by the brown sloping mass. The painting has been interpreted as showing a loss of hope and some people look at it and see a dog who is stuck in quicksand, looking for help where there is none.
6. Me and My Parrots
Answer: Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo is a Mexican painter known for her self-portraits, including a number of them with animals. She has self-portraits with monkeys and with parrots. In this 1941 self-portrait, Frida is seated and wearing a short sleeved white top and a purple skirt.
She is holding a cigarette in her hand and has a parrot on each shoulder and two parrots in her lap. The detail and color on the parrots is quite extraordinary.
7. Jimson Weed/White Flower No 1
Answer: Georgia O'Keeffe
O'Keeffe has been called the "Mother of American Modernism" and is known for her paintings of flowers, New York City and New Mexican landscapes. She is fond of painting the jimson weed flower. This painting is a large single white blossom and the original painting was sold at auction in 2014 for over forty-four million dollars. This made O'Keeffe the highest-earning female painter ever.
8. The Indian Church
Answer: Emily Carr
Emily Carr was a modernist and post-impressionist painter known for painting landscapes. She started painting Indigenous themes but didn't become famous for her work until she switched to landscapes. "The Indian Church" is a 1929 painting that depicts a stark white church against the backdrop of a rich green forest.
It was bought and put on display by Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris who called it Carr's most important work. This painting is considered a transitional painting for Carr as she moved from painting Indigenous art to painting more landscapes.
9. Little Girl in a Blue Armchair
Answer: Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt was an American painter who spent time in France, befriended Edgar Degas, and showed her work with the Impressionists. Many of her paintings were of the bond between mother and child and she has been called one of the three great ladies of Impressionism. "Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" is an 1878 oil on canvas painting that has a little girl sitting in a blue armchair.
She is slouching, looks a little bored, and is wearing a white dress with dark socks, black shoes and a blanket around her waist.
There is a little dog curled up on a chair next to her. In the background are two other chairs of the same blue pattern and color. Art historian Griselda Pollock has called it a radical depiction of childhood.
10. Marie-Antoinette in a Muslin Dress
Answer: Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun was a prominent portrait painter of the late eighteenth century and Marie Antoinette's portrait painter. She created over six hundred and fifty portraits and two hundred landscapes. Thirty of those portraits were of Marie Antoinette and the royal family. "Marie-Antoinette in a Muslin Dress" is a 1783 portrait that caused quite a scandal as it depicted Marie-Antoinette in a plain white long dress.
The informality of the clothing choice made quite a stir as it was akin to posing her in her underwear and was also seen as breaking down the barrier between classes.
It was not well received by the aristocracy at all.
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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