Deck 8: Emphasis and Focal Point

Question 1

Identify three things that the artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder could have done differently in his painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus if he had wanted to make the figure of Icarus the focal point of the work.

Answer 1

Answer will vary.

Question 2

If the clothing of the saint was the only light area in The Funeral of St.Bonaventure,the viewer's eye would not be easily drawn to any other areas of the composition.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The opposite of emphasis is ________.

A) color
B) tone
C) focal point
D) subordination
E) proportion

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The Funeral of St.Bonaventure is a painting by the Spanish artist ________.

A) Pieter Bruegel the Elder
B) Jules Olitski
C) Artemisia Gentileschi
D) Francisco de Zurbarán
E) Mark Tobey

Question 5

When an artist wants to highlight the entire surface of his or her work,without regard for any particular area,this is called ________.

A) focal point
B) subordination
C) linear emphasis
D) focal element
E) broad emphasis

Question 6

Artists can use ________ to organize the elements in a work and draw our attention to areas of emphasis and focal points.

A) direction
B) dramatic contrasts
C) placement
D) line
E) all of the other answers

Question 7

In The Legend of John Brown #9 by Jacob Lawrence,broad emphasis occurs because the twelve figures ________.

A) are evenly balanced
B) have one dominant leader
C) wear completely different clothes in wacky colors
D) stand in height order, tallest to shortest
E) crowd around the figure on the left

Question 8

The African-American sculptor Martin Puryear was influenced by the time he spent in Africa as a member of the ________.

A) Marines
B) Foreign Service
C) Hudson River School
D) Peace Corps
E) Merchant Navy

Question 9

The Russian artist Marc Chagall depicted the mythical character Icarus with bright colors on a white background in order to ________.

A) subordinate Icarus
B) draw attention to Icarus's fall
C) distract the viewer from Icarus's fall
D) emphasize the smaller figures in the composition
E) None of the other answers

Question 10

Agnes Martin created Starlight so that there was no dominant area in the composition.This decision was partly influenced by her interest in Eastern philosophy,especially ________.

A) Logic
B) Stoicism
C) Taoism
D) Existentialism
E) Christianity

Question 11

In the Indian painting featuring the Mughal Emperor Babur in his garden (1.8.8),the garden is punctuated by a specific feature that points to the four cardinal directions.What is this feature?

A) sand
B) fire
C) water
D) rocks
E) an olive tree

Question 12

Any of the ________ of art can help focus our interest on specific areas of a work of art.

A) elements
B) tones
C) styles
D) themes
E) periods

Question 13

The African-American painter Jacob Lawrence was inspired by John Brown,a Civil War-era abolitionist who believed that slavery could be eradicated through armed insurrection.With this in mind,what does Lawrence's composition The Legend of John Brown #9 communicate to viewers?

Question 14

In Dieric Bouts's work The Coronation of the Virgin,the artist focuses the viewer's attention on the Virgin Mary-even though the Holy Trinity is present-by ________.

A) placing the Virgin in the center
B) directing all other figures' eyes toward the Virgin
C) placing a dove above the Virgin's head
D) dressing the Virgin in a different color to all the other figures
E) all of the other answers

Question 15

In The Funeral of St.Bonaventure,the artist used the principle of ________ to create emphasis and focal point.

A) contrast
B) scale
C) balance
D) placement
E) variety

Question 16

Agnes Martin's interest in Eastern philosophy influenced her work.Discuss how the work Starlight communicates ideas about the "importance of harmony in the Universe."

Question 17

In the painting Landscape with the Fall of Icarus,by Pieter Bruegel,the artist intended to divert our attention so that we barely notice Icarus plunging to his doom; a fine example of ________.

A) subordination
B) emphasis
C) focal point
D) tone
E) composition

Question 18

If an artist painted a garden with one red flower in a field of yellow flowers,this would be an example of using color to create contrast.For the viewer,the single red flower would be ________.

A) a focal point in the artwork
B) easily ignored
C) the least important part of the artwork
D) completely unrealistic
E) none of the other answers

Question 19

Martin Puryear's sculpture C.F.A.O.places emphasis on a large white area of the work that mimics a mask design of the ________ tribe in Gabon,West Africa.

A) Berber
B) Choctaw
C) Watusi
D) Fang
E) Yoruba

Question 20

This is the specific part in an area of emphasis to which the viewer's eye is drawn.

A) subordination
B) focal point
C) middle
D) top
E) composition

Question 21

In his print "Riverside Bamboo Market,Kyobashi," the artist oriented three ________ in order to emphasize specific points in the work and to enliven the composition.

A) shapes
B) figures
C) bridges
D) lines
E) boats

Question 22

This artist created the print "Riverside Bamboo Market,Kyobashi," which uses placement for emphasis and to create focal points.

A) Francisco de Zurbarán
B) Mark Tobey
C) Ando Hiroshige
D) Jules Olitski
E) Artemisia Gentileschi

Question 23

Artemisia Gentileschi used directional line brilliantly in her painting Judith Decapitating Holofernes to draw our attention to this point

A) Judith's face
B) blood spurting from Holofernes's neck
C) the bed
D) the maidservant
E) a hand

Question 24

Artemisia Gentileschi worked during this stylistic and historical period.

A) Impressionism
B) Renaissance
C) Pop art
D) Surrealism
E) Baroque

Question 25

An artwork can have only one focal point.