Modern Art Movements and Key Works

Question-and-answer flashcards covering key modern art movements, their characteristics, representative artists, and landmark works.

Which early-20th-century movement incorporated elements from South Sea Islander art and African tribal wood carvings?

Neo-Primitivism

Which Expressionist sub-movement is noted for its bold, vibrant colors and visual distortions?

Fauvism

Which movement is characterized by dream fantasies, memory images, and visual tricks and fantasies?

Dadaism

Which movement seeks to depict an illogical, subconscious dream world beyond the logical, conscious one?

Surrealism

Which Expressionist movement emphasizes the artist’s role in social reform and critique?

Social Realism

Who painted the Neo-Primitivist work “Yellow Sweater” (1919)?

Amedeo Modigliani

“Head” (1913), carved in stone, is a work by which Neo-Primitivist artist?

Amedeo Modigliani

Who painted the Fauvist piece “Blue Window” (1911)?

Henri Matisse

The 1905 painting “Woman with a Hat” is associated with which art movement?

Fauvism (artist: Henri Matisse)

Which artist created the Dadaist painting “Melancholy and Mystery of a Street” (1914)?

Giorgio De Chirico

“I and the Village” (1911) was painted by which artist linked to Dadaism?

Marc Chagall

Which Surrealist masterpiece featuring melting clocks was painted by Salvador Dalí in 1931?

“Persistence of Memory”

Pablo Picasso’s 1937 painting “Guernica” is an example of which movement highlighted in the notes?

Social Realism

Name the two primary sub-movements of Abstract Expressionism.

Action Painting and Color Field Painting

Which Abstract Expressionist artist famously worked on huge floor-laid canvases, splattering and dribbling paint?

Jackson Pollock

Pollock’s technique of energetic paint application exemplifies which sub-movement?

Action Painting

Color Field painters used varying color saturations to achieve effects. Name two leading figures in this approach.

Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman

The painting “Magenta, Black, Green on Orange” (1949) by Mark Rothko belongs to which Abstract Expressionist sub-movement?

Color Field Painting

Which Color Field artist adopted a “pictograph” approach in works like “Forgotten Dream” (1946)?

Adolph Gottlieb

Pop Art commonly draws inspiration from advertisements, celebrities, billboards, and comic strips. True or False?

True

Who created the 1967 silkscreen print “Marilyn Monroe” and became a leading Pop artist?

Andy Warhol

“Whaam!” (1963), a large comic-inspired canvas, was painted by which Pop artist?

Roy Lichtenstein

In Op Art, where does the “action” primarily take place?

In the viewer’s eye, as lines, spaces, and colors create illusions of movement.

What key idea distinguishes Conceptual Art from traditional art objects?

The artwork is primarily the idea; physical forms may be temporary and often question commodification.

Which 1965 Conceptual work by Joseph Kosuth juxtaposes a real chair, its photo, and a dictionary definition?

“One and Three Chairs”

What is the main goal of Installation Art?

To use sculptural materials and media to modify the viewer’s experience of a specific space, often at life-size or larger scale.

In Performance Art, what constitutes the artwork itself?

The live actions of the performers, which can occur anytime, anywhere, and for any duration, often incorporating theater, dance, music, or other activities.