CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE MID- TO LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY ART IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES

1. What structure that was erected for the 1889 Universal Exposition was intended to be temporary?

A. Crystal Palace

B. Paris Opéra

C. Statue of Liberty

D. Eiffel Tower

Answer: D

Learning Objective: 31.a Identify the visual hallmarks of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and architecture for formal, technical, and expressive qualities.

Topic: Chapter Introduction

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

2. Which of the following were major patrons of the arts in the nineteenth century?

A. monarchs

B. workers

C. church officials

D. entrepreneurs

Answer: D

Learning Objective: 31.b Interpret the meaning of works of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art based on their themes, subjects, and symbols.

Topic: Europe and the United States in the Mid to Late Nineteenth Century

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the

3. Van Gogh’s insistence on his emotional state over fidelity to nature contributed to the development of which subsequent movement in modern art?

A. Symbolism

B. Japonisme

C. Expressionism

D. Art Nouveau

Answer: C

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Post-Impressionism

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

4. To emphasize the abstract nature of his paintings, James Abbott McNeill Whistler often chose titles that were more commonly used in

A. psychology.

B. music.

C. poetry.

D. mathematics.

Answer: B

Learning Objective: 31.d Apply the vocabulary and concepts relevant to mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art, artists, and art history.

Topic: Responses to Realism beyond France

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

5. Which artist is known for producing portraits of some of Britain’s leading intellectuals?

A. Timothy O’Sullivan

B. Henry Fox Talbot

C. Julia Margaret Cameron

D. James Abbott McNeill Whistler

Answer: C

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Alexander Gardner and Julia Margaret Cameron

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

6. Winslow Homer employed an unadorned realism in depicting the heroic struggles of

A. African Americans.

B. the working poor.

C. soldiers in the Civil War.

D. young male athletes.

Answer: B

Learning Objective: 31.b Interpret the meaning of works of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art based on their themes, subjects, and symbols.

Topic: Responses to Realism beyond France

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

7. William Morris’s reaction against the mass production of furniture and other functional objects was rooted in his

A. desire for his own wealth.

B. socialist concerns for industrial workers.

C. idea that art was only for the elite.

D. religious beliefs and ceremonies.

Answer: B

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Responses to Realism beyond France

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

8. Which Renaissance culture influenced Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass (Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe) (Fig. 31-17) and Olympia (Fig. 31-18)?

A. Venetian

B. German

C. Spanish

D. Netherlandish

Answer: A

Learning Objective: 31.e Interpret a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European or American art using the art historical methods of observation, comparison, and inductive reasoning.

Topic: Manet: “The Painter of Modern Life”

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

9. Although associated with the Academy, Gustave Moreau’s sensuous treatment of biblical themes served as a precursor to which art movement?

A. Neo-Impressionism

B. Symbolism

C. Impressionism

D. the Pre-Raphaelites

Answer: B

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Symbolism

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

10. In contrast to some of the other Impressionist painters, Renoir focused on the

A. marketplace.

B. streetlight.

C. landscape.

D. figure.

Answer: D

Learning Objective: 31.b Interpret the meaning of works of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art based on their themes, subjects, and symbols.

Topic: Landscape and Leisure

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

11. Although artists in different countries developed their own approach to Realism, what common interest united them?

A. a rejection of Academic standards for artistic styles and patronage

B. a desire to present an unflinching look at the lives of the working poor

C. a preference for oil painting and symmetrically balanced compositions

D. their political and religious affiliation and activist role in society

Answer: B

Learning Objective: 31.d Apply the vocabulary and concepts relevant to mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art, artists, and art history.

Topic: Realism and the Avant-Garde

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

12. What impact did the suppression of the Paris Commune have on art?

A. There was a resurgence in religious art and the Romantic style.

B. Artists turned to lithography and other printed formats for social critique.

C. Overt political commentary in French art diminished.

D. Avant-garde artists produced politically charged work under pseudonyms.

Answer: C

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Landscape and Leisure

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

13. What common denominator unifies the artists who are considered Post-Impressionists?

A. They lived in France and formally trained at an academy.

B. They experimented with form and expanded on Impressionism.

C. They rejected ancient Greek and Roman ideas and form.

D. Their work is characterized by the use of impasto.

Answer: B

Learning Objective: 31.f Select visual and textual evidence in various media to support an argument or an interpretation of a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art or architecture.

Topic: Post-Impressionism

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

14. What style did American-born sculptor Edmonia Lewis employ to address modern issues such as slavery?

A. Realist

B. Symbolist

C. Impressionist

D. Neoclassical

Answer: D

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Responses to Realism beyond France

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

15. What was a disadvantage of a daguerreotype?

A. The image was blurred.

B. The image would fade over time.

C. The image could not be reproduced easily.

D. The image was very dark.

Answer: C

Learning Objective: 31.a Identify the visual hallmarks of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and architecture for formal, technical, and expressive qualities.

Topic: Early Photography in Europe and the United States

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

16. In what way was Gustave Courbet’s The Stone Breakers (Fig. 31-12) an explicit political statement?

A. His elevated his lower-class subject to the heroic status afforded history painting.

B. He refused to exhibit it in the Salon and wrote a manifesto criticizing the academies.

C. He rejected academic conventions to idealize the subject.

D. He depicted an actual event that spawned violent protests outside the city of Ornans.

Answer: A

Learning Objective: 31.e Interpret a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European or American art using the art historical methods of observation, comparison, and inductive reasoning.

Topic: Realism and Revolution

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

17. What innovation seen in Auguste Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais (Fig. 31-45) signaled his departure from established traditions of sculpture?

A. Rodin enlarged the figures’ hands and feet.

B. The figures show emotional anguish and despair.

C. Rodin suggests their pain through physical discomfort.

D. The figure grouping is placed at eye level.

Answer: D

Learning Objective: 31.e Interpret a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European or American art using the art historical methods of observation, comparison, and inductive reasoning.

Topic: French Sculpture

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

18. In Degas’s The Rehearsal on Stage (Fig. 31-33), the seemingly arbitrary cropping of figures suggests the influence of

A. synthetism.

B. historicism.

C. photography.

D. stained glass.

Answer: C

Learning Objective: 31.f Select visual and textual evidence in various media to support an argument or an interpretation of a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art or architecture.

Topic: Modern Life

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

19. Cézanne’s professed aim of painting was to

A. “evoke a strong emotional reaction from the viewer.”

B. “create an image of pure aesthetic pleasure.”

C. “make of Impressionism something solid and durable.”

D. “capture transitory effects of light and atmosphere.”

Answer: C

Learning Objective: 31.f Select visual and textual evidence in various media to support an argument or an interpretation of a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art or architecture.

Topic: Cézanne

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

20. The reading room at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (Fig. 31-52) demonstrates the tendency of late nineteenth-century architects to

A. fuse a historicizing approach to form with new technologies.

B. reject the use of mass-produced and industrial materials in design.

C. explore new architectural forms that could reflect the modern world.

D. adhere to the dictum that “form ever follows function.”

Answer: A

Learning Objective: 31.e Interpret a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European or American art using the art historical methods of observation, comparison, and inductive reasoning.

Topic: European Architecture: Technology and Structure

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

21. Which artist associated with Realism in the nineteenth century found great success in the Salon system, including receiving France’s highest award, membership in the Legion of Honor?

A. Courbet

B. Manet

C. Millet

D. Bonheur

Answer: D

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Realism and Revolution

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

22. What interest led Gauguin to give up his affluent lifestyle in search of simpler pleasures?

A. Japonisme

B. the primitive

C. peasants

D. anarchists

Answer: B

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Post-Impressionism

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

23. What did Belgian artist James Ensor frequently use in his terrifying paintings, which combined aspects of Symbolism and Expressionism?

A. weapons

B. femme fatales

C. demons

D. masks

Answer: D

Learning Objective: 31.b Interpret the meaning of works of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art based on their themes, subjects, and symbols.

Topic: Symbolism

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

24. Which English tradition of landscaping did Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux rely on in designing New York’s Central Park?

A. symmetrical

B. picturesque

C. Grand Manner

D. Academic

Answer: B

Learning Objective: 31.a Identify the visual hallmarks of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and architecture for formal, technical, and expressive qualities.

Topic: The City Park

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

25. What was essential to the development of the modern skyscraper?

A. electric elevator

B. pre-cut glass panes

C. truss-and-balloon framing

D. cable car

Answer: A

Learning Objective: 31.d Apply the vocabulary and concepts relevant to mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art, artists, and art history.

Topic: The Chicago School

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

Short Answer

1. What was the early photographic process?

Answer: A glass plate was coated with an emulsion like silver nitrate. The camera’s shutter was opened and light reflecting off objects entered the camera, exposing the film to produce a negative. The negative was placed in a chemical bath to develop it.

Learning Objective: 31.a Identify the visual hallmarks of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and architecture for formal, technical, and expressive qualities.

Topic: Early Photography in Europe and the United States

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

2. Who was William Morris?

Answer: He was a painter turned industrial designer. Morris created a furniture company that sold expensive, one-of-a-kind items and machine-made, practical furniture. He inspired what became the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Responses to Realism beyond France

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

3. How did Manet break with conventions in his paintings?

Answer: Manet created “immoral” contemporary scenes using Classical sources as inspiration. He did not guise his female nudes as Venus but presented them as prostitutes. Manet challenged the Salons and academies in their acceptance of experimental works, which eventually led to artists banding together to create their own exhibitions.

Learning Objective: 31.d Apply the vocabulary and concepts relevant to mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art, artists, and art history.

Topic: Manet: “The Painter of Modern Life”

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

4. What is repoussoir, and how did Cézanne use it?

Answer: The term means “something that pushes back.” The technique creates a contrast in pictorial space by putting a large object in the foreground, creating distance in the background. Cézanne uses this technique in Mont Sainte-Victoire (Fig. 31-57) by placing a tree on the far left and top of the composition, making the town, aqueduct, and mountain in the background seem farther away.

Learning Objective: 31.d Apply the vocabulary and concepts relevant to mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art, artists, and art history.

Topic: Cézanne

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

5. What is Japonisme?

Answer: The word is used to describe a period when Europeans and Americans became enthralled with all things Japanese after Japan was forcibly opened in 1853. Artists were inspired by Japanese prints and aesthetics and consumers began buying all kinds of Japanese objects.

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Japonisme

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

6. What is Orientalism?

Answer: Orientalism is the European fascination with Middle Eastern cultures dating back to Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt in 1798. Although artists painted in a realistic style, they fictionalized their scenes and subjects.

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: French Academic Architecture and Art

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

7. What is Art Nouveau?

Answer: The Art Nouveau movement embraced the use of modern industrial materials but not functional aesthetics. Artists and architects were inspired by nature, especially from vines, snakes, flowers, and winged insects, whose delicate and sinuous forms were consistent with the graceful and attenuated aesthetic principles of the movement.

Learning Objective: 31.c Relate mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and artists to their cultural, economic, and political contexts.

Topic: Art Nouveau

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

8. How is Central Park organized?

Answer: Olmsted and Vaux modeled their design on picturesque English landscapes with the irregularities of topography and planting used as positive design elements. They arranged walking trails, bridle paths, and carriage drives through the park with a series of changing vistas winding around ponds and the central reservoir.

Learning Objective: 31.a Identify the visual hallmarks of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and architecture for formal, technical, and expressive qualities.

Topic: The City Park

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

9. How were the first skyscrapers designed and ornamented?

Answer: They were multifunctional structures with office space, commercial space, and residential space. Architects were inspired by the decorative designs of Classical structures and Art Nouveau aesthetics. The first skyscrapers included decorative elements that enhanced verticality.

Learning Objective: 31.a Identify the visual hallmarks of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art and architecture for formal, technical, and expressive qualities.

Topic: The Chicago School

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

10. In what ways was Henry Ossawa Tanner unlike his contemporaries in the Paris art world?

Answer: Tanner combined scenes from African-American and rural French life using realistic style with delicate brushwork. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Tanner sought to replace the caricatures with sympathetic genre scenes that brought dignity to the subjects.

Learning Objective: 31.e Interpret a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European or American art using the art historical methods of observation, comparison, and inductive reasoning.

Topic: Responses to Realism beyond France

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

Essay

1. Compare and contrast the design and aesthetics of the Grand Staircase, Opéra, Paris (Fig. 31-4) and the Reading Room of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (Fig. 31-52).

Answer:

1. Both interior spaces encourage the viewer to look by incorporating wide, open vistas. The height of the rooms is emphasized and light is part of the design.

2. Both spaces incorporate the arch with curving, flowing lines, and both architects used Classical sources.

3. Labrouste’s fusion of the Academic historicizing approach to architecture with the technical innovations of industrial engineering can be seen in the elongated, narrow pillars and glass domed ceilings.

4. Garnier’s fusion of Baroque and modern cast iron is not as apparent in the interior spaces like the Grand Staircase. The opulent sculptural groupings and heavy gilded decoration reflects the neo-Baroque style.

Learning Objective: 31.e Interpret a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European or American art using the art historical methods of observation, comparison, and inductive reasoning.

Topic: French Academic Architecture and Art; European Architecture: Technology and Structure

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

2. Discuss the movement of Realism. Provide examples and formal descriptions.

Answer:

1. Realist artists wanted to capture the everyday honestly, without turning away from the brutal truths of life for all people, poor as well as privileged.

2. Courbet created the large painting A Burial at Ornans (Fig. 31-13) to comment on the brutal, physical reality of the funeral without idealizing the figures or interaction between the laity and the clergy.

3. Millet created The Gleaners (Fig. 31-14) to emphasize the hardships and pleasures of the rural poor as they strain and bend down to pick crops.

4. Bonheur created large works that accurately depicted draft animals, showing their wild and natural natures, as seen in The Horse Fair (Fig. 31-16).

Learning Objective: 31.b Interpret the meaning of works of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art based on their themes, subjects, and symbols.

Topic: Realism and Revolution

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

3. Consider Thomas Eakins’s The Gross Clinic (Fig. 31-21). How does it reflect the cultural ideas and technological changes of the late nineteenth century?

Answer:

1. The painting is very realistic and shows Dr. Samuel David Gross performing an operation that he pioneered in the surgical amphitheater.

2. A woman at the left of the painting cringes in horror. At this time, surgeons were regarded with fear because they were regarded as uncompassionate due to the fact that they often used the poor for operations.

3. Eakins portrays the surgeon as heroic instead of scary, teaching the procedures to willing and eager participants who have access to a variety of tools.

4. The contrast between light and dark is symbolic of Enlightenment thinking and the objection to scientific advancement and discovery.

Learning Objective: 31.f Select visual and textual evidence in various media to support an argument or an interpretation of a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art or architecture.

Topic: Responses to Realism beyond France

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

4. Discuss the use of light in Impressionist paintings. Give examples of specific artists and their work in your explanation of their innovative use of light and color.

Answer:

1. Impressionists sought to capture light and everyday leisurely scenes with brushstrokes of pure color.

2. In Impression: Sunrise (Fig. 31-28), Claude Monet focused on the sun rising in the horizon and its reflection on the surface of the water.

3. In Summer’s Day (Fig. 31-32), Berthe Morisot highlighted the central woman boating in a park pond and the space directly behind her with short, white brushstrokes.

4. In Moulin de la Galette (Fig. 31-31), Pierre-Auguste Renoir used subtle, soft pink colors to highlight the scene, emphasizing the afternoon light.

Learning Objective: 31.b Interpret the meaning of works of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art based on their themes, subjects, and symbols.

Topic: Landscape and Leisure

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It

5. Van Gogh’s impact on the arts has been significant and far-reaching. Explore some of his innovations in terms of his concepts and their manifestation in his work.

Answer:

1. Van Gogh’s paintings are efforts to communicate his emotional state by establishing a direct connection between artist and viewer, thereby overcoming the emotional barrenness of modern society.

2. Emotions are expressed in The Starry Night (Fig. 31-40) through the use of swirling brushstrokes and calming, cool colors.

3. He stated: “I should like to paint the portrait of an artist friend who dreams great dreams, who works as the nightingale sings, because it is his nature.”

4. The Starry Night records a feeling of peace and harmony. The viewer is connected to the earth and the heavens through the lines that break the horizon, represented as a cypress tree and church steeple.

Learning Objective: 31.f Select visual and textual evidence in various media to support an argument or an interpretation of a work of mid- to late nineteenth-century European and American art or architecture.

Topic: Post-Impressionism

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Apply What You Know and Analyze It