Friday, June 27, 2008

The Answers Are:

Who-Gustave Courbet used himself as the frenzied model in his "The Desperate Man." He continually attacked social values and assaulted the art establishment of his day. Courbet wrote "When I am no longer controversial I will no longer be important." His technique of using a palette knife or his fingers to apply paint was a radical departure of the conventional method of smoothly applying paint.

What-Venus of Willendorf is one of the oldest prehistorical female figures. It is only a little more than 4 inches tall and may have been used as a fertility figure. It was discovered in Austria and can be found in the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna.

When-The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya depicts the massacre of Spanish peasants by Napoleonic soldiers in retaliation for a Spanish attack the day before in which the Spanish tried to expel the French invaders. The artist tried to encourage empathy for the Spanish by exposing the French soldier's deed in the most horrifying way he could. He used darks and lights, to enhance the sense of drama in his painting.

Where-The Ishtar Gate was constructed by King Nebuchadnezzar II around 575 BC in the city of Babylon. It was made of blue glazed tiles. Between 1902 and 1914 45 feet of the foundation of the original gate was excavated by Robert Koldewey. It was reconstucted out of some of the uncovered materials and it can be seen in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin today.

Why-Fountain by Marcel Duchamp 1950. Duchamp was part of the Dada movement which emerged as a reaction to what artists saw as the insane spectacle of collective homicide of World War I. Since they believed that reason and logic had been responsible for the war they decided that the only way to salvation was through the irrational and absurd. Duchamp chose a urinal and "placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view--created a new thought for that object."

How-No one knows how the Egyptians did it...

4 comments:

  1. You are a tough task master!

    BTW, was this open book? If so, I could have aced it! ;)

    Fun, Stevie! :)

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  2. Oh...and one more thing...did you know that I was the model for the Venus of Willendorf? Yes, Willow of Willendorf, that would be me.

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  3. Willow, I thought I was the model!

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  4. Very edifying...I feel quite enlightened with this new knowledge. You are one smart cookie Steveiwren...

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I'm glad you stopped by and I look forward to your comments. As Dr. Fraser Crane would say, "Hello, I'm listening."