STUDY GUIDE FOR TEST 4: NEOCLASSICISM, ROMANTICISM, AND REALISM
TEXTBOOK, Book E, pp 745-786
1. The work on the left is an oil painting, while the work on the right is a daguerreotype.
In the work on the left, the artist used light to:
A) indicate the time of day; B) dramatically highlight the doctor and the operation; C)
evenly record the details of the operating room; D) soften the harshness of this gory scene
The artist of the work on the left was concerned with light in a way that recalls:
A) Rembrandt B) Giotto C) Monet D) Vermeer
The style of painting most closely associated with the work on the left is:
A) romanticism B) realism C) neoclassicism D) futurism
2. The concept of Manifest Destiny was the subject matter of many Romantic landscape
paintings although not all of them supported it. Which of the following artists produced
paintings that appeared to support the belief that Manifest Destiny was sanctioned by
higher powers? To answer this question you need to know what Manifest Destiny refers to
and which country is associated with that belief. Then you need to know the nationality of
the artists below as well as the subject matter of their usual art works.
A) Thomas Cole and Thomas Eakins
B) Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church
C) John Constable and Joseph Turner
D) Casper Friedrich and Claude Lorrain
3. Daumier was both a painter and a graphic artist. For what venue did he produce most of
his graphic work?
A) Salon exhibitions B) private books C) aristocratic collections of prints D) the popular
press
There will be questions about the primary three movements on this test: neoclassicism,
romanticism, and realism.
To prepare for this, make a table with three columns, write the name of each movement in a
column, and beneath it make a list of the key art works, artists, and identifying
characteristics that go with that movement.
For example, where does Courbet belong? Ingres? Turner? Which movement is characterized
by a greater degree of subjectivity in the artist’s vision? In which movement are Roman and
Greek legends used as the means of providing a moral message?
Here’s a set of practice items. Note that “practice” means you must do it yourself – I will not
give you the answers! You may not know all of the answers yet (unless you’ve read the
textbook) but you should know them after Tuesday’s class.
Comparison between early 19th century movements:
A) = Realism B) = Romanticism
1. History is treated as an exotic and alien memory.
2. Focuses on an interest in the “heroes” of modern life.
3. Focuses on the weakness of humans in the face of nature.
4. Focuses on the victims of history.
5. Generally rejects allegory and personalized meaning.
6. The quality of the sublime is associated with this movement.
7. This movement exists as a direct rebuke to the age of reason.
8. For many viewers, this movement was socially offensive. They often did not object to the
style but the subject matter.
9. The landscape genre is not used by artists associated with this movement.
I will not ask this exact question since I’ve used it before, but I might ask a question similar
to this.
The two images below are an exterior and interior view of Etienne-Louis Boullée’s design for
a cenotaph to Isaac Newton (late 18th century). In what respect does this architectural
design (it was never built) relate to neo-classicism? In what respect does it relate to
romanticism?