Art for grades 5–6: questions with answers
The Art questions for grades 5–6 from the game, with the correct answers and an explanation for each.
Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Raphael
- Michelangelo
- Donatello
Correct answer: Michelangelo — Michelangelo painted the ceiling between 1508 and 1512 for Pope Julius II. "The Creation of Adam" is its most famous scene.
Which artist painted "Guernica", a response to the bombing of a Spanish town?
- Pablo Picasso
- Joan Miró
- Francisco Goya
- Diego Velázquez
Correct answer: Pablo Picasso — Picasso painted the huge black-and-white canvas in 1937, weeks after German planes bombed Guernica. It hangs in the Reina Sofía museum in Madrid.
Impressionism took its name from a painting by which artist?
- Édouard Manet
- Claude Monet
- Edgar Degas
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Correct answer: Claude Monet — Monet's "Impression, Sunrise" (1872) shows the port of Le Havre. A critic used the title to mock the group, and the name stuck.
Which architect designed the Sagrada Família in Barcelona?
- Le Corbusier
- Frank Gehry
- Norman Foster
- Antoni Gaudí
Correct answer: Antoni Gaudí — Gaudí took over the church in 1883 and worked on it until his death in 1926. It is still under construction, funded by visitors' tickets.
Who directed the 1960 thriller "Psycho"?
- Alfred Hitchcock
- Stanley Kubrick
- Orson Welles
- Billy Wilder
Correct answer: Alfred Hitchcock — The shower scene, with its screeching violins, is among the most famous in cinema. Hitchcock never won a competitive Oscar for directing.
Who painted the melting clocks of "The Persistence of Memory"?
- René Magritte
- Max Ernst
- Salvador Dalí
- Joan Miró
Correct answer: Salvador Dalí — Dalí painted the small canvas in 1931. It has been in the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1934.
Who composed the opera "Carmen"?
- Giuseppe Verdi
- Georges Bizet
- Giacomo Puccini
- Gioachino Rossini
Correct answer: Georges Bizet — "Carmen" premiered in Paris in 1875 to a cool reception. Bizet died three months later, never knowing it would become one of the most performed operas.
Who sculpted "The Thinker"?
- Antonio Canova
- Constantin Brancusi
- Gian Lorenzo Bernini
- Auguste Rodin
Correct answer: Auguste Rodin — Rodin first designed the figure in 1880 as part of his monumental "Gates of Hell". The best-known cast stands in the Rodin Museum in Paris.
Which instrument did jazz legend Louis Armstrong play?
- saxophone
- clarinet
- piano
- trumpet
Correct answer: trumpet — Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1901 and became the first great jazz soloist. His recording of "What a Wonderful World" dates from 1967.
Which London theatre was built for Shakespeare's company?
- the Rose
- the Swan
- the Globe
- the Curtain
Correct answer: the Globe — The Globe opened in 1599 and burned down in 1613 when a cannon misfired during "Henry VIII". A reconstruction opened near the original site in 1997.
Who painted "The Scream"?
- Edvard Munch
- Gustav Klimt
- Egon Schiele
- Wassily Kandinsky
Correct answer: Edvard Munch — The Norwegian artist made several versions from 1893. Two of them have been stolen from Oslo museums and later recovered.
Which composer wrote the opera "The Magic Flute"?
- Haydn
- Mozart
- Beethoven
- Schubert
Correct answer: Mozart — The opera premiered in Vienna in September 1791, less than three months before Mozart's death. The Queen of the Night's aria is its most famous number.
The Bolshoi Theatre, famous for ballet and opera, is in which city?
- St Petersburg
- Kyiv
- Moscow
- Warsaw
Correct answer: Moscow — The Bolshoi company dates back to 1776. Its present building, with its eight-column portico, opened in 1856.
The director Akira Kurosawa, maker of "Seven Samurai", came from which country?
- China
- Japan
- South Korea
- Vietnam
Correct answer: Japan — "Seven Samurai" (1954) was remade in Hollywood as "The Magnificent Seven". Kurosawa's "Rashomon" won the Golden Lion in Venice in 1951.
Which American city is considered the birthplace of jazz?
- Chicago
- New York
- Memphis
- New Orleans
Correct answer: New Orleans — Jazz emerged in New Orleans around 1900 from a mix of blues, ragtime and brass-band music. Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton were among its pioneers.
Which pop artist painted "Campbell's Soup Cans"?
- Andy Warhol
- Roy Lichtenstein
- Jackson Pollock
- Jean-Michel Basquiat
Correct answer: Andy Warhol — Warhol exhibited the 32 soup-can canvases in 1962. His New York studio, the Factory, became a hub for artists and musicians.
Which band recorded "Bohemian Rhapsody"?
- The Rolling Stones
- Queen
- Led Zeppelin
- Pink Floyd
Correct answer: Queen — Freddie Mercury wrote the six-minute song for the 1975 album "A Night at the Opera". Radio stations at first thought it too long to play.
Who painted "The Birth of Venus"?
- Raphael
- Titian
- Botticelli
- Giotto
Correct answer: Botticelli — Botticelli painted the goddess arriving on a shell in the mid-1480s in Florence. It is one of the first large Renaissance paintings on canvas rather than wood.
Who directed both "Titanic" and "Avatar"?
- Steven Spielberg
- Ridley Scott
- Peter Jackson
- James Cameron
Correct answer: James Cameron — Each film was the highest-grossing film ever made at the time of its release: "Titanic" in 1997 and "Avatar" in 2009.
Which of these is a traditional Japanese form of theatre?
- Kabuki
- Peking opera
- Wayang
- Kathakali
Correct answer: Kabuki — Kabuki began in the early 17th century with elaborate make-up, costumes and stylised movement. All roles have been played by men since 1629.