Art 107 Short Answer Question questions
These questions will help you prepare for quizzes. Also, the information gathered by studying these questions will help build the content for your essay.
INTRODUCTION (SEE TEXTBOOK AND LISTEN TO POWERPOINT FOR ANSWERS – BRING QUESTIONS TO CLASS)
1. Briefly define Modern, Postmodernism and Contemporary.
2. Briefly define Deconstruction and who were some of the key thinkers behind the movement.
3. Where could New York Artists go to see European Modernist paintings (several answers)?
4. Why did Social Realism lose popularity as a style?
5. Who was Clement Greenberg and how did he define art?
6. Identify the philosopher that influenced Greenberg’s theories and in what way?
7. Why was mythology important to the Abstract Expressionists and where did they look to make a connection?
8. Abstract Expressionist painting is split into two schools, describe what they are and how do they differ?
9. Identify the psychoanalyst that influenced the Abstract Expressionist (AE) movement.
10. Describe some of the key elements of existentialist philosophy?
11. Who coined the term Action painting?
LEE KRASNER
12. Why did Krasner dislike the ideologies of Surrealism adopted by many AEs.
13. Identify the modernist artist who inspired Krasner’s style and describe the changes she made to make her work her own?
14. Describe the gender Krasner addresses in her Untitled painting from 1948.
15. Describe the role Krasner played in the development of Jackson Pollock’s career?
FRANZ KLINE
16. Describe Kline’s painting process.
17. Describe Kline’s childhood experiences that inspired his paintings?
18. Why were many of Kline’s works (and other artists) left untitled?
19. What did Kline do to his works after applying the initial brushstrokes that led to criticism from other artists and critics and why?
ALEXANDER CALDER
20. When calculating the cycles of the mobiles, describe what Calder was hoping to achieve?
21. Identify the term is used to describe Calder’s moving sculpture?
22. Describe the phrase “open-form” sculpture and where did this style originate?
23. Define “Biomorphic Surrealism.”
24. Why did Calder consider himself a “Realist”?
HANS HOFMANN
25. Describe the “European Sensibility” in relation to Hans Hoffman.
26. Why is Hofmann considered a key figure in the rise of Abstract Expressionism?
27. Describe “push and pull” in relation to painting?
28. Describe the two forms of Abstract Expressionism seen in Hofmann’s paintings.
ARSHILE GORKY
29. Why is Gorky sometimes the “Existentialist Hero?”
30. Describe the content and formal elements that make Gorky’s painting of himself and his mother iconic.
31. Describe the symbolic meaning associated with Gorky’s “liver” and “cock’s comb” in his painting?
WILLEM DeKOONING
32. Identify the past artists who inspired DeKooning’s works and in what way?
33. Define pentimenti?
34. Who did De Kooning meet at Black Mountain College in North Carolina and why were these relationships significant? (significance discussed later)
35. Identify the source that inspired Willem de Kooning’s Woman paintings?
36. What was de Kooning hoping to capture in his Woman paintings?
37. What was the response to Willem deKooning’s Woman paintings?
ELAINE DEKOONING
38. Describe Elaine de Kooning’s style of painting.
39. What inspired her to create these series?
40. Describe the stigma Elaine tried to overcome?
JACKSON POLLOCK
41. Describe Jackson Pollock experiences in Arizona that he incorporated into his painting process?
42. Identify the literary sources that Pollock and other Abstract Expressionist utilized to delve further into the subconscious and represent these ideas in their art.
43. Briefly describe Jackson Pollock’s approach to painting.
44. Describe the connection between Pollock’s drip style and Native American sand painting?
45. Identify the term used to describe Pollock’s coverage of the canvas?
46. Where did Pollock complete most of his drip paintings and why was this location ideal?
47. Describe the events that led to Pollock’s return to his early style.
COLOR FIELD PAINTERS
BARNET NEWMAN
48. Define the sublime and how Newman redefines the term in his art.
49. How did Newman define abstraction in realist terms?
50. What is meant by the term “zip”?
51. What does the title Onement I mean and what did the paintings symbolize?
MARK ROTHKO
52. How can Rothko’s works be viewed as more political than other Abstract Expressionists?
53. Why was children’s art important to the development of Rothko’s career?
54. When conducting a literal reading of Rothko’s paintings, describe what it represents.
55. Analyze Mark Rothko’s goals for his paintings.
56. Describe the connection to Nietzsche’s ideologies in relation to Rothko’s paintings?
57. How are you supposed to interpret a Rothko painting?
DAVID SMITH
58. Describe the symbolic meaning associated with steel in Smith’s sculpture and what inspired him to use this material.
59. How is Smith’s sculpture similar to Abstract Expressionist painters in terms of design and content?
60. Describe Smith’s totems?
61. How did Smith define a series?
62. What inspired the design of Smith’s Construction with Forged Neck? (several)
63. How is Smith’s Cubi series similar to the formal elements of the Gestural and Color Field Abstract Expressionists?
ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG
64. Describe the purpose behind Rauschenberg’s “White paintings.”
65. Describe “combines”.
66. What space were “combines” supposed to represent?
67. What was the importance of found objects in his works?
68. Why were Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg important figures in the Pop art movement?
69. Why were Rauschenberg’s silkscreen paintings an effective medium for the Pre-Pop movement?
70. Discuss “compositional confusion” in relation to Rauschenberg’s paintings as well as sikscreen and lithograph prints.
71. What types of images were incorporated into Rauchenberg’s silkscreen and lithographic prints and why do they represent a disruption of the hierarchy within fine art?
JASPER JOHNS
72. Who inspired Jasper Johns to switch to “found objects?”
73. Why did Jasper Johns use flags and targets in his paintings?
74. Why do Johns works “not support an iconographic reading?”
75. Describe the Encaustic technique.
76. Which philosopher inspired Johns and in what way?
77. How do his works disrupt our understanding of language?
POSTWAR EUROPEAN ARTISTS
FRANCIS BACON
78. How is Bacon’s work instinctual and surreal?
79. Describe the content/symbolism of Bacon’s paintings and why was it blasphemous to some?
80. Describe the references to Eumenides in Bacon’s artwork.
81. Describe the numerous sources Bacon accessed as subject matter for his paintings.
LUCIAN FREUD
82. What did Freud want to capture in his portraits?
83. Describe Freud’s painting process in order to capture “portraits of people.”
CHAPTER 1 (Kalb Textbook): DISCOVERING THE CONTEMPORARY
JAMES ROSENQUIST
84. What did he do for a living in the late 50s and how did this inspired his art style?
85. Describe the effects of fragmentation in his images.
86. What term is used to describe the level of illusion in his works?
87. What political event inspired F-111 and how are these events transformed in his artwork?
CLAUS OLDENBURG (see powerpoint)
88. How did Oldenberg undermine the identity of objects?
89. Why is his work autobiographical?
90. What is “Ray Gun”?
91. Why is Oldenberg’s Pie a la Mode the quintessential Pop sculpture?
92. Describe the contradiction in Oldenberg’s soft sculpture?
93. Describe the transformation that takes place in Oldenberg’s large-scale sculpture?
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
94. Describe his painting process and why it is an example of appropriating popular culture.
95. What term is used to describe the patterns in his paintings?
NAM JUN PAIK
96. Describe Fluxus and who were the artists connected to Fluxus?
97. What artistic medium did Nam June Paik develop early in his career?
98. Why did Paik use televisions in his work?
99. What is the purpose of the Stuart Collection and who were some of the artists represented? http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/StuartCollection/index.htm
MINIMALISM
100. Briefly describe some of the basic elements of minimalism.
101. How did the Minimalists treat works of art?
102. Why did the Minimalists need texts to accompany their works?
103. Why did Greenberg dislike Minimalism?
DONALD JUDD
104. How were Judd’s works Utopian in the Minimalist sense (even though he said they were not)?
105. What were his interests?
106. What was eliminated in his sculpture?
ROBERT MORRIS
107. How should you interact with a Morris sculpture?
108. Why did he choose the L shape?
109. Why did he use felt?
HELIO OITICICA
110. Why was an installation an effective medium for Oiticica’s Tropicalia piece?
111. What was his inspiration for the piece?
LYNDA BENGLIS
112. Describe the connection between materials and process in Benglis’ Excess and the resulting formal elements.
113. Why were the materials and process strongly connected to femininity but also challenged masculinity?
114. What role did Benglis play in relation to mainstream feminist art?
ROBERT SMITHSON
115. Where is the Spiral Jetty located and why was this location important?
116. Discuss the concept of Entropy in relation to Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty?
117. What are nonsites?
JOSEPH BEUYS
118. What traumas remained at the core of Beuys works?
119. Why were animals important in his works?
120. What materials did Beuys’ feel would bring about healing?
121. What role does transformation play in his works?
122. Describe Beuys’ organization and his political activism.
LEON GOLUB
123. What techniques did Golub incorporate into his Vietnam painting to “get at the real”?
124. What did he appropriate in his image and why was this effective?
125. Why were political issues important to Golub?
ROMARE BEARDEN
126. What are projections (Romare Bearden)?
127. What was Bearden hoping to “do” with his images?
128. What early 20th century style did Bearden appropriate?
OBAC
129. Describe the purpose of OBAC and which artists were involved in this group?
130. Describe the ideologies of the group AfriCOBRA
EMORY DOUGLAS
131. Describe how Emory Douglas became involved in the Black Panther Movement.
132. Why were his drawings and prints an effective form of communication?
133. What was contained inside of the Black Panther newspaper?
YOKO ONO
134. What did Yoko Ono mean when she stated her work was “Fabricating consciousness” rather than making art?
135. Describe the poetic and Zen elements in Yoko Ono’s work as seen in her “Cut Piece”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYJ3dPwa2tI (link to excerpt from performance)
136. Discuss the dichotomous as well as unifying elements in Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece” that support a feminist reading of her performance.
JUDY CHICAGO
137. Describe Womanhouse and the statement the artists were trying to make with the installation.
138. Why was the installation effective in terms of location, content and materials?
139. What bias within the art world was made apparent with the rise of the Pattern and Decoration movement?
140. What does Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party symbolize?
141. What are the positive and negative aspects of the Dinner Party?
142. What shift occurred in feminist art during the late 1970s?
HANNAH WILKE
143. Why were Hannah Wilke’s performances considered contradictory to the feminist movement?
144. Why did Wilke paste objects onto her body?
145. What role did humor play in Wilke’s performances?
CHAPTER 2: TAKING PICTURES
146. Define Appropriation and why it is or isn’t an effective art form (refer to Douglas Crimp’s exhibition Pictures).
SHERRIE LEVINE
147. What issues did Sherrie Levine address by appropriating images from previous artists and popular culture?
148. How do her photographs question originality?
RICHARD PRINCE
149. Why was Prince drawn to images from popular culture?
150. Why is “desire” an important aspect of his work?
151. Define Prince’s Gang photo series and why is placing the photographs of same subjects adjacent to one another an effective form for visual and social critique?
CINDY SHERMAN
152. What type of feminism arose in the 1980’s and what was their main goal?
153. What types of subjects does she portray her photographs?
154. What does Cindy Sherman deconstruct with her photographs?
155. What types of subjects does she investigate with her later photographs?
ALLAN MCCOLLUM and LOUISE LAWLER
156. Define surrogates (Allan McCollum)
157. Describe the contradictions in McCollum and Lawler’s pieces and the effects?
158. Describe their critique of the art gallery and presentational space.
BARBARA KRUGER
159. Where did Barbara Kruger’s career begin?
160. What did she appropriate from this early career?
161. When Kruger uses terms like “we” and “you” whom is she referring to?
162. Describe the iconic formal elements in Kruger’s work.
163. Describe political consumerism in relation to Kruger’s work.
GUERRILLA GIRLS
164. Who are the Guerrilla Girls, what is their goal and how is this information spread? http://www.guerillagirls.com/index.shtml
165. What styles are fused together in Guerrilla Girls works of art and why is this approach effective?
166. Describe some of the themes introduced in their posters, prints and books.
CHAPTER 3: BACK TO THE EASEL
ANDY WARHOL
167. How did Andy Warhol describe himself and how does this attitude relate to his art?
168. How did Warhol’s early career affect his “Fine Art” career?
169. What type of device did Warhol use to capture accuracy and detail in his paintings?
170. Why did Warhol eliminate the artist hand (how does this relate to question 38)?
171. How are the celebrities in his works transformed?
172. How can the repetition seen in his works be interpreted?
173. How does repetition affect the viewer’s response to his Disaster Series?
174. What was the name of his studio?
175. Describe the environment in his studio.
176. What famous phrase did Warhol coin?
177. Describe Warhol’s films.
JULIAN SCHNABEL
178. According to Julian Schnabel why is it impossible for painting to just refer to itself?
179. What is the connection between Schnabel and Johns?
180. What duality is expressed in his paintings?
ERIC FISCHL
181. Why were Fischl’s works controversial?
182. What complexity and contradictions are apparent in his work?
183. What is deconstruction? (very brief)
JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT
184. What is meant by SAMO? (Basquiat)
185. Why is his work an example of the diasporiac style?
186. Describe Basquiat’s definition of the fragmented self.
FRANCESCO CLEMENTE
187. Who were the Transvanguardia and where are they from?
188. Describe the concept of fragmentation and subversion in Clemente’s pieces.
ANSELM KEIFER
189. What does Anselm Kiefer seek in his paintings?
190. What is Keifer trying to resolve through his paintings?
191. Why did Keifer use natural materials in his works?
192. What symbolism is contained in Breaking of the Vessels?
193. Why is Breaking of the vessels an example of postmodern art?
JORG IMMENDORFF
194. Describe the symbolic metraphor represented in Immendorff’s Café Deutschland III.
195. What iconography is portrayed in the Café?
196. Describe some of the influences on Immendorff’s later paintings.