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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which words best describe the mood of the paintings on pages 66 and 67?

2. What is the extraordinary significance of works such as" A Family Group" by Nouts?

3. How is Maddox Brown's painting different than the other images on pages 66 and 67?

4. What could be the theme for all of the images included on pages 68 to 71?

5. Why is it a significant accomplishment for an artist to paint children at play?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Courbet's two paintings, reproduced in Chapter 6 on facing pages 124 and 125, titled "Girl in White Stockings" and "Demoiselles au bord de la Seine" illustrate two distinct styles of his work?

2. How are pages 72 and 73, which contain images of mythological characters and fanciful human figures, different than the previous images that are displayed in Chapter 4?

3. According to Berger et al., how do traditional oil paintings perpetuate the wealth and power of the ruling class?

4. Describe how the wealthy influence the ways of seeing through oil paintings, as explained by Berger et al.

5. In Chapter 4, explain what interconnections can be made between the images of death on pages 68 and 69, and the images of food, wine, and the hunt on pages 70 and 71.

6. How is Ford Madox Brown's nineteenth century painting titled "The Pretty Baa Lambs" slightly humorous against the other images on pages 66 and 67?

7. Describe how Holbein's work "The Ambassadors" is typical of traditional oil paintings and the manner of presenting the subjects, as explained by the authors.

8. How is the meaning of the images in Chapter 6 on pages 120 and 121, that depict daily life, of any significance?

9. Explain how the pairs of paintings and photographs in Chapter 6 on pages 126 and 127 complement each other.

10. Describe the images of death in Chapter 4 on pages 68 and 69, and name some of the specific paintings.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the psychology of publicity images and modern consumerism according to Berger et al. and compare that to the authors' explanation of the spectator-owner versus the spectator-buyer psychology associated with European oil paintings.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay to describe how works of art from the past mystify viewers in the present. Answer the following questions in your writing. Where do the viewers see themselves when they observe a work of art from the past? What depictions are easily misinterpreted from historical art works? Do you think that viewers in the present see the same sight as viewers from the past when they look at a work of art from the past? Support your reasoning.

Essay Topic 3

Woman nudes are a common subject in traditional European oil paintings. Write the following three-part essay to describe the portrayal of women in these paintings.

Part 1 - Describe how female nudes are positioned and situated in paintings that are tailored to the male viewer.

Part 2 - Explain some of the various ways that artists manipulate the depiction of female nudes to shape the viewer's way of seeing.

Part 3 - Contrast the assumed humanism in European oil paintings with the portrayal of women nudes in traditional European oil paintings.

(see the answer keys)

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