These art trivia questions cover art history in five rounds: painters and sculptors, movements and styles, techniques, materials and color, architecture, and museums and where works are kept.
Read the full guide
Arts trivia questions for a museum night
Painters and sculptors asks dated facts, from Goya at court to Calder's stabiles. Movements and styles covers the Fauves, De Stijl and ukiyo-e. Techniques, materials and color is the long round: tempera, etching, lost-wax casting, ultramarine and patina. Architecture runs from the Doric capital to the Prairie School. Museums and where works are kept describes a work in words and asks where it hangs.
How the card plays
Every tap marks your choice and shows the right one with its reason and its source. Ten questions make a set; Scored round asks 20 and marks them at the end. No answer here is the title of a painting.
Questions and answers
What are some easy art trivia questions?
Which food is the usual binder in tempera paint? Into how many sections is a triptych divided? What job does a true gargoyle do on a building? The answers are egg yolk, three and spouting rainwater clear of the walls.
What is the difference between fresco and tempera?
Fresco is mural painting on freshly laid, wet lime plaster. Tempera is a fast-drying paint of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder, usually egg yolk.
Where is the Mona Lisa kept?
In the Louvre, in Paris. Leonardo painted the portrait of Lisa del Giocondo in oil on a poplar panel, and the museum's palace was first built under Philip II in the late 12th to 13th century.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 3, 2026 in the Wikipedia article linked under it: the artist, the technique, the building or the work itself. Sale prices, visitor numbers and living artists are left out, and works are described in words, not asked by title.
A famous series of woodblock prints by Hokusai shows views of which mountain?Answer: Mount Fuji. Source: Wikipedia: Hokusai
Alexander Calder is known for his mobiles. What are his sculptures that stay still called?Answer: Stabiles. Source: Wikipedia: Alexander Calder
The American painter Mary Cassatt put particular emphasis on the bond between whom?Answer: Mothers and children. Source: Wikipedia: Mary Cassatt
Diego Velázquez was the leading artist at the court of which king of Spain?Answer: Philip IV. Source: Wikipedia: Diego Velázquez
The forms of the sculptor Henry Moore are usually abstractions of what?Answer: The human figure. Source: Wikipedia: Henry Moore
How many of his works did Michelangelo ever sign?Answer: One. Source: Wikipedia: Pietà (Michelangelo)
In the 1890s the art of Paul Gauguin took a turn during his time on which island?Answer: Tahiti. Source: Wikipedia: Paul Gauguin
Leonardo painted his portrait of Lisa del Giocondo in oil on a panel of which wood?Answer: Poplar. Source: Wikipedia: Mona Lisa
Michelangelo painted a celebrated chapel ceiling in fresco. He began in 1508. When did he finish?Answer: 1512. Source: Wikipedia: Sistine Chapel ceiling
The painter Henri Rousseau was nicknamed Le Douanier. What does the nickname mean?Answer: The customs officer. Source: Wikipedia: Henri Rousseau
Piet Mondrian limited himself to the three primary colors. Which two directions did he allow?Answer: Horizontal and vertical. Source: Wikipedia: Piet Mondrian
When ill health kept Henri Matisse from painting in his final years, to which medium did he turn?Answer: Cut paper collage. Source: Wikipedia: Henri Matisse
Which artist became a court painter to the Spanish Crown in 1786?Answer: Francisco Goya. Source: Wikipedia: Francisco Goya
Which Florentine family, Lorenzo among them, gave Sandro Botticelli its patronage?Answer: The Medici. Source: Wikipedia: Sandro Botticelli
Winslow Homer, an American landscape painter and illustrator, is best known for which subjects?Answer: Marine subjects. Source: Wikipedia: Winslow Homer
Movements and styles 18
The Baroque flourished from the early 1600s until the 1750s. Which style followed it?Answer: Rococo. Source: Wikipedia: Baroque
Caravaggio's dramatic use of light and dark came to be known by which name?Answer: Tenebrism. Source: Wikipedia: Caravaggio
Dada came together among émigré artists and writers during 1916 in which neutral country?Answer: Switzerland. Source: Wikipedia: Dada
De Stijl, founded in 1917, was an art movement of which country?Answer: The Netherlands. Source: Wikipedia: De Stijl
Diego Rivera belonged to the mural movement of which country?Answer: Mexico. Source: Wikipedia: Diego Rivera
El Greco, whose nickname means "the Greek," was born on which island?Answer: Crete. Source: Wikipedia: El Greco
The Fauves were modern artists who put strong color first. What does their French name mean?Answer: The wild beasts. Source: Wikipedia: Fauvism
The Japanese term ukiyo-e translates as pictures of what?Answer: The floating world. Source: Wikipedia: Ukiyo-e
Marinetti, Boccioni and Carrà were Futurists. In which country did Futurism begin?Answer: Italy. Source: Wikipedia: Futurism
Matisse and Picasso are both said to have called which painter "the father of us all"?Answer: Paul Cézanne. Source: Wikipedia: Paul Cézanne
The name Art Deco came into use after an international exhibition of decorative arts held in which year?Answer: 1925. Source: Wikipedia: Art Deco
Peter Paul Rubens of Antwerp belonged to which Baroque tradition?Answer: Flemish Baroque. Source: Wikipedia: Peter Paul Rubens
Picasso's Blue Period ended in 1904. Which period, named for a warmer color, came next?Answer: The Rose Period. Source: Wikipedia: Pablo Picasso
Roy Lichtenstein, a leading figure of Pop Art, took the look of his best-known paintings from what?Answer: Comic books and advertisements. Source: Wikipedia: Roy Lichtenstein
Titian belonged to which Italian school of painting?Answer: The Venetian school. Source: Wikipedia: Titian
Which English painter's handling of light and atmosphere inspired the early Impressionists Monet and Pissarro?Answer: J. M. W. Turner. Source: Wikipedia: J. M. W. Turner
Which technique builds a picture out of small contrasting dots of paint?Answer: Pointillism. Source: Wikipedia: Pointillism
Whose satirical article of 1874 gave the Impressionists their name?Answer: Louis Leroy. Source: Wikipedia: Impressionism
Techniques, materials and color 28
A pastel consists of a binder and what?Answer: Powdered pigment. Source: Wikipedia: Pastel
Cire perdue is the French name for which way of casting a sculpture in metal?Answer: Lost-wax casting. Source: Wikipedia: Lost-wax casting
Colors that sit opposite each other on a color wheel are called what?Answer: Complementary colors. Source: Wikipedia: Complementary colors
Encaustic painting adds colored pigments to which heated medium?Answer: Wax. Source: Wikipedia: Encaustic painting
The French term trompe-l'œil, for a painted illusion of real space, means what?Answer: Deceive the eye. Source: Wikipedia: Trompe-l'œil
From mines in which country did Italian traders bring ultramarine to Europe?Answer: Afghanistan. Source: Wikipedia: Ultramarine
From which plant fiber was canvas historically made?Answer: Hemp. Source: Wikipedia: Canvas
Gesso, a white primer for wooden painting panels, takes its name from a word for what?Answer: Chalk. Source: Wikipedia: Gesso
How is stained glass given its color?Answer: Metallic salts are added while the glass is made. Source: Wikipedia: Stained glass
In a woodcut, which parts of the block does the artist cut away?Answer: The parts that are not to print. Source: Wikipedia: Woodcut
In an illuminated manuscript the text is decorated with flourishes such as borders and what?Answer: Miniature illustrations. Source: Wikipedia: Illuminated manuscript
In traditional etching, what cuts the design into the metal?Answer: Strong acid. Source: Wikipedia: Etching
In which kind of relief sculpture is more than half the depth of the figures shown?Answer: High relief. Source: Wikipedia: Relief
Into how many sections is a triptych divided?Answer: Three. Source: Wikipedia: Triptych
Lines that run away from the viewer seem to meet at one spot in a perspective drawing. What is the spot called?Answer: The vanishing point. Source: Wikipedia: Vanishing point
Linseed, poppy seed, walnut and safflower all serve in oil painting as what?Answer: Drying oils. Source: Wikipedia: Oil painting
Lithography takes its name from the Greek word for which material?Answer: Stone. Source: Wikipedia: Lithography
The name of the blue pigment ultramarine comes from Latin for what?Answer: Beyond the sea. Source: Wikipedia: Ultramarine
Serigraphy and silkscreening are other names for which printing technique?Answer: Screen printing. Source: Wikipedia: Screen printing
Terracotta takes its name from words meaning what?Answer: Baked earth. Source: Wikipedia: Terracotta
What is a picture or pattern made of small pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by mortar, called?Answer: A mosaic. Source: Wikipedia: Mosaic
What is the pose called in which a figure stands with most of its weight on one foot, so that the shoulders twist against the hips?Answer: Contrapposto. Source: Wikipedia: Contrapposto
What is the technique of laying paint on so thickly that the strokes of the brush or knife stay visible?Answer: Impasto. Source: Wikipedia: Impasto
What is the thin layer that forms on the surface of copper, brass and bronze called?Answer: Patina. Source: Wikipedia: Patina
What is the tool with which an engraver cuts grooves called?Answer: A burin. Source: Wikipedia: Engraving
Which binder is used in watercolor paint?Answer: Gum arabic. Source: Wikipedia: Watercolor painting
Which food is the usual binder in tempera paint?Answer: Egg yolk. Source: Wikipedia: Tempera
The word collage comes from a French verb meaning what?Answer: To glue. Source: Wikipedia: Collage
Architecture 15
After the Great Fire of London, which architect rebuilt more than fifty of the city's churches?Answer: Christopher Wren. Source: Wikipedia: Christopher Wren
Almost two thousand years after it was built, the dome of the Pantheon is still the largest in the world of which kind?Answer: Unreinforced concrete dome. Source: Wikipedia: Pantheon, Rome
The capital of an Ionic column is characterized by the use of what?Answer: Volutes. Source: Wikipedia: Ionic order
The Empire State Building is a tower in which style?Answer: Art Deco. Source: Wikipedia: Empire State Building
Fallingwater, a house near a waterfall, stands in which state?Answer: Pennsylvania. Source: Wikipedia: Fallingwater
Frank Lloyd Wright was a pioneer of which movement in architecture, named for a landscape?Answer: The Prairie School. Source: Wikipedia: Frank Lloyd Wright
In which year did building begin on the Sagrada Família?Answer: 1882. Source: Wikipedia: Sagrada Família
Stylized leaves of which plant decorate a Corinthian capital?Answer: Acanthus. Source: Wikipedia: Corinthian order
Thick walls, round arches, sturdy pillars and barrel vaults mark which medieval style of building?Answer: Romanesque. Source: Wikipedia: Romanesque architecture
What is a sculpted female figure that takes the place of a column called?Answer: A caryatid. Source: Wikipedia: Caryatid
What is the central opening to the sky in the dome of the Pantheon in Rome called?Answer: The oculus. Source: Wikipedia: Pantheon, Rome
What is the gable of a classical building, usually triangular, called?Answer: A pediment. Source: Wikipedia: Pediment
What job does a true gargoyle do on a building?Answer: It spouts rainwater clear of the walls. Source: Wikipedia: Gargoyle
Which classical order is most easily recognized by its simple circular capitals?Answer: The Doric order. Source: Wikipedia: Doric order
Which kind of monument, first built by the Egyptians, ends in a pyramidal top?Answer: An obelisk. Source: Wikipedia: Obelisk
Museums and where works are kept 18
The Ashmolean, the first public museum in Britain, is in which city?Answer: Oxford. Source: Wikipedia: Ashmolean Museum
The Book of Kells is kept in the library of which college?Answer: Trinity College Dublin. Source: Wikipedia: Book of Kells
Botticelli's painting of the birth of Venus hangs in which gallery?Answer: The Uffizi. Source: Wikipedia: The Birth of Venus
Grant Wood's 1930 painting of a farmer and a woman before a farmhouse hangs in which museum?Answer: The Art Institute of Chicago. Source: Wikipedia: American Gothic
The great court painting that Velázquez finished in 1656 hangs in which Madrid museum?Answer: The Prado. Source: Wikipedia: Las Meninas
In which year was the British Museum established?Answer: 1753. Source: Wikipedia: British Museum
Leonardo painted the last supper on a wall of a convent's dining hall in which city?Answer: Milan. Source: Wikipedia: The Last Supper (Leonardo)
The Louvre is housed in a palace first built in the late 12th to 13th century under which king?Answer: Philip II. Source: Wikipedia: Louvre
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, founded in 1870, has its main building on which New York avenue?Answer: Fifth Avenue. Source: Wikipedia: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Michelangelo's marble David stands in which gallery in Florence?Answer: The Galleria dell'Accademia. Source: Wikipedia: David (Michelangelo)
The mural-sized canvas that Picasso painted in 1937 hangs in which Madrid museum?Answer: The Reina Sofía. Source: Wikipedia: Guernica (Picasso)
The National Gallery in London faces which square?Answer: Trafalgar Square. Source: Wikipedia: National Gallery
Rembrandt's huge group portrait of a militia company, painted in 1642, hangs in which Amsterdam museum?Answer: The Rijksmuseum. Source: Wikipedia: The Night Watch
Vermeer's painting of a girl with a pearl earring hangs in the Mauritshuis. In which Dutch city?Answer: The Hague. Source: Wikipedia: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Vincent van Gogh's painting of a night sky full of stars hangs in which New York museum?Answer: The Museum of Modern Art. Source: Wikipedia: The Starry Night
Which empress founded the Hermitage in 1764 when she acquired a collection of paintings from a Berlin merchant?Answer: Catherine the Great. Source: Wikipedia: Hermitage Museum
Which French cathedral still has the majority of its original stained glass windows?Answer: Chartres. Source: Wikipedia: Chartres Cathedral
Whose gift of an art collection and of money for the building created the National Gallery of Art?Answer: Andrew Mellon. Source: Wikipedia: National Gallery of Art
How this list was compiled
Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. Questions and wrong choices are our own. Each explanation restates, in our own sentences, facts from the page named and linked beside it. Each answer was checked on 2026-10-03 against the English Wikipedia article linked beside it (https://en.wikipedia.org, text under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license), fetched that day: usually the article on the artist, the technique, the building or the museum, and for a work of art the article on that work, where the place it is kept is stated. Works of art are described in words and by place; no answer in this set is the title of a painting or a sculpture. Left out on purpose: sale prices and auction records, visitor numbers and rankings of museums, and living artists and architects. Not repeated here, because other quizzes on this site already ask them: the stone ultramarine was ground from, Egyptian blue, vermilion, ochre, Tyrian purple and Prussian blue (the color quiz), how the Impressionists and the Cubists got started (the quiz bowl sets), the glass pyramid, the power-station gallery and the spiral museum (the decade quizzes), and the dome of Florence, the Parthenon, the Alhambra and the Taj Mahal (the travel and school quizzes). Levels are our estimate: easy is fair for any table, medium suits a museum-goer, hard will stump most of them. Each round is stored easiest first, and each question carries the date its page was read. Licence: own work