Modern Art Questions

Go to the AP European History part of the website (http://mrdivis.yolasite.com/). On the right-

hand side under “Age of Anxiety,” click on “Art of the Age of Anxiety PPT”. This is a

slideshow of some of the most well-known artists and paintings from the Modern era. To answer

the follow questions, scroll through the slides.

1. Two of the themes in Early Modern art are uncertainty/insecurity and disillusionment.

Why were these present in society at this time period? Where do these themes come

from?

2. How was this artistic era different from previous eras?

3. In Expressionism, one of the key aspects is to purposefully distort reality. Why would

they want to do this? Explain the purpose of this.

4. In your opinion, what is unique about Marc Chagall’s The Birthday?

5. Why is Edvard Munch’s The Scream so symbolic of this era? Also, in your opinion, why

is it, together with the Mona Lisa, considered one of the most famous and recognized

images in art history?

6. What was the mood in most of Munch’s work?

7. Which artistic movement did Pablo Picasso start in 1907?

8. How did Picasso’s work symbolize his stance against the mechanical method of

photographic paintings? Why didn’t he just want to paint photographic paintings?

9. What was Picasso trying to say with Guernica?

10. What were the Abstract artists trying to accomplish with their new style?

11. What do you think about the work of Wassily Kandinsky?

12. Do you consider the work of Dada artists, especially Marcel Duchamp, to be art?

Explain.

13. “Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting

our vision.” What did Salvador Dali mean with this quote?

14. Why did Dali focus so much on the unconscious?

15. Why did Hitler lead a campaign against Modern art? Why did he have such strong

opinions about it to the point that he labeled it “degenerate art”?

16. In Hitler’s eyes, what was considered appropriate art?