The history of art studies the various artistic manifestations throughout the history of humanity. Therefore, this is an important area of knowledge and can be assessed in competitions and entrance exams.
Therefore, we have created multiple choice questions from various periods and art movements for you to test your knowledge. Check out!
Question 1
The Portuguese and Spanish carried out extensive navigations at the end of the 15th century, searching for territories unknown to them.
These trips resulted in the domination of the American continent and the oppression of its original peoples.
These people had already inhabited these lands for a long time and had their own civilizations and artistic expressions.
On this subject, we can say:
A) The artistic manifestations of the people who inhabited the territories dominated by the Spanish were called pre-Columbian art and cover different civilizations, such as the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs. In Brazil, indigenous art created before Portuguese domination is called pre-cabralina.
B) They were primitive and limited artistic manifestations due to the lack of knowledge of more complex painting and sculpture techniques that were developing on the European continent.
C) This art is called Baroque, as the sculptures were made with clay and the paintings with natural paints.
D) The art produced by these people was done individually, prioritizing the artist and their personal issues, but creating connections with the collective.
The correct answer is option A.
The so-called pre-Columbian art is very broad, covering the artistic expressions of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs, as well as other even more remote people who lived on the American continent before the great navigations.
In Brazil, before the arrival of Pedro Álvares Cabral, the different indigenous peoples also had their own cultural and artistic manifestations (pre-Cabral art).
Question 2
The pyramids of Cheops, Chephren and Mencherinos, located in Giza, the statues of Akhenaten and the Temple of Luxor are examples of architecture and art related to which ancient civilization?
A) Mayans
B) Greeks
C) Egyptians
D) Aztecs
The correct answer is option C.
The works cited are part of the artistic/cultural manifestations of Ancient Egypt.
Question 3
Roman art developed in Ancient Rome between the 753rd century BC. W. and the 4th century AD. W. About her, it is correct to say:
A) It was influenced by various peoples, especially the Greeks, Persians and Aztecs.
B) It developed mainly in sculpture and theater, leaving aside other manifestations such as architecture and painting.
C) The Romans were mainly influenced by the Etruscans and Greeks in their artistic manifestations.
D) Roman sculptures highlighted emotions and subjectivity, bringing some notions of abstraction in their figures, as in the statue of Cato the Elder (80 a. W.).
The correct answer is option C.
The greatest influences for the Romans were Greek art, with its aesthetic sense, and the Etruscans, with their objectivity.
Question 4
One of the most important artistic manifestations of Paleolithic prehistory was found in 1908, dating from 30 thousand years ago and is:
A) A Greek sculpture representing the goddess Aphrodite.
B) A small figurine named Venus of Willendorf.
C) A small bronze sculpture found in Scandinavia.
D) Stonehenge Sanctuary, located in England.
The correct answer is option B.
The Venus of Willendorf is an 11 cm figurine that represents a female figure with full breasts. It was found in Austria at the beginning of the 20th century and is now in the Natural History Museum in Vienna.
Question 5
Regarding Renaissance art, we can say:
A) One of the main concerns of art in the Renaissance was transmitting religious concepts, as at the time theocentrism governed Italian society.
B) Goya, Leonardo da Vinci, Boticelli and Renoir are names of important Renaissance artists.
C) The Renaissance, influenced by Greco-Roman ideals, began to include humanist and anthropocentric concepts in their works of art.
D) In architecture, the main characteristic was the search for a feeling of infinity, as is typical of Gothic cathedrals.
The correct alternative is C.
In the Renaissance period, man and nature began to be valued more, leaving aside the theocratic thinking that placed God at the center of everything and adopting an anthropocentric stance. Therefore, art reflects these new values.
Question 6
The artistic manifestations of the different peoples of the African continent are part of African art. We can say about this area of art history:
A) The cultural expressions of African peoples are similar both in their aesthetics and in their purposes, as they are specific manifestations, constituting a uniform type of art.
B) African art is understood only as cultural expressions carried out by traditional people in the pre-colonial period, which provided valuable material for the study of ancient civilizations.
C) A large part of the artistic artifacts produced on the African continent were usurped by colonizing peoples and taken to museums in Europe.
D) Avant-garde artistic movements in Europe used influences from different cultures such as Japanese, for example, but African art was not one of these "sources of inspiration".
The correct answer is option C.
A large part of African masks, utensils, sculptures and other artifacts were taken to European museums. There is an organized movement that seeks to recover these objects and return them to their original territories.
Question 7
One of the most famous Mexican artists today is Frida Kahlo. Born at the beginning of the 20th century, she left behind a vast body of work that includes the following paintings:
A) Self-portrait in a velvet dress It is The Scream
B) The potato eaters It is Women in the Garden
W) Eyes on the table It is Wheat field with crows
D) The broken column It is My Grandparents, My Parents and Me
The correct answer is option D.
Until then The broken column it was painted in 1944 and represents the artist with a support vest and a Greek column in the center of her body. It shows Frida's suffering after spinal surgery.
My Grandparents, My Parents and Me is a 1936 painting that shows his family tree.
Question 8
The emergence of photography was an important moment in the history of art. Choose the correct alternative about this historical fact.
A) Photography was an invention attributed exclusively to the Frenchman Jaques Daguerre, a self-taught scholar who, with his genius, developed photographic equipment on his own.
B) Photography was created in 1810 and shortly after became popular. Thus, in 1820 people could buy their own Kodak equipment and no longer depended on professional photographers.
C) The creation of photography took place gradually and many studies and experiments contributed to the evolution and dissemination of the technique. Some important names in the history of photography are Niépce, Daguerre and Talbot.
D) The emergence of photography did not have a very significant impact on the world of painting, as from the beginning it was realized that they were very different expressions.
The correct alternative is C.
Before the creation of photography, many optical experiments and devices arose, such as the camera obscura and magic lanterns. Such devices contributed to the creation of cameras that could retain images using light and chemical reactions.
Question 9
Regarding the artistic avant-gardes that took place in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, it is correct to say:
A) They were movements that aimed to transform the way art was produced and appreciated, breaking with what had been done until then. They reflected people's desires and reflections in a time of conflicts and technological advances.
B) They were limited to Europe, not reaching other continents. Thus, they did not have a significant influence on the art produced in Brazil.
C) Cubism, pop art and realism are examples of European avant-garde.
D) Expressionism was a movement that valued light, had diffuse brushstrokes and brought light, everyday themes.
The correct answer is option A.
The European avant-gardes emerged as a natural response to the times Europe was going through. Thus, they aimed to convey people's anxieties and desires, proposing new ways of thinking and creating.
Question 10
In 1922, Modern Art Week took place in Brazil, an important event for national culture.
The following artists participated in the Week of 22:
A) Tarsila do Amaral, Oswald de Andrade and Vítor Meireles
B) Lasar Segall, Di Cavalcanti and Eliseu Visconti
C) Eliseu Visconti, Mario de Andrade and Guiomar Novaes
D) Mario de Andrade, Anita Malfati and Heitor Villa-Lobos
The correct answer is option D.
Mario de Andrade (writer), Anita Mafatti (painter), and Heitor Villa-Lobos (musician) were important names in Brazilian modernism and were present at the Modern Art Week.
AIDAR, Laura. Questions about art history to test your knowledge.All Matter, [n.d.]. Available in: https://www.todamateria.com.br/questoes-sobre-historia-da-arte/. Access at:
See too
- Questions about Surrealism and Dadaism (with comments)
- Exercises on European Vanguards
- Exercises on rock art (with answer sheet and explanations)
- 10 exercises about expressionism to test your knowledge
- Exercises on Modern Art Week
- Questions about Russian Revolution
- 10 Exercises about the Belle Époque (with comments)
- 15 Questions about Prehistory (with commented answer sheet)
