MFA (MFA) Random 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a 'vanitas' still life?
- A still life celebrating the pleasures of wealth and abundance
- A still life incorporating symbols of mortality and the transience of earthly life (Correct answer)
- A still life painted using only earth tones
- A still life placed in an outdoor garden setting
Correct answer: A still life incorporating symbols of mortality and the transience of earthly life
Vanitas still lifes include symbols such as skulls, hourglasses, and wilting flowers to meditate on mortality and the futility of worldly pursuits.
Question 2: Which avant-garde movement, founded in Zurich in 1916, embraced nonsense, chance, and anti-rational aesthetics?
- Futurism
- Constructivism
- Dadaism (Correct answer)
- De Stijl
Correct answer: Dadaism
Dada was founded in Zurich's Cabaret Voltaire in 1916 as a reaction to World War I, embracing irrationality, provocation, and anti-art gestures.
Question 3: In ceramics, what is 'bisque firing'?
- The final high-temperature firing that vitrifies the clay body
- An initial firing that hardens unfired clay without applying glaze (Correct answer)
- A low-temperature firing used exclusively for terra cotta
- A reduction firing used to achieve metallic glaze effects
Correct answer: An initial firing that hardens unfired clay without applying glaze
Bisque firing is a first firing that removes moisture and organic material from clay, creating a porous but durable piece ready for glazing.
Question 4: What does 'chiaroscuro' refer to in painting?
- A technique of applying paint with a palette knife
- The use of strong contrasts between light and dark to model three-dimensional form (Correct answer)
- A method of layering translucent glazes to build color depth
- The application of gold leaf to a painted surface
Correct answer: The use of strong contrasts between light and dark to model three-dimensional form
Chiaroscuro is the Renaissance technique of using dramatic contrasts of light and shadow to create the illusion of volume and depth.
Question 5: Which seminal text by Clement Greenberg argued that modern painting should emphasize its inherent flatness?
- 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction'
- 'Avant-Garde and Kitsch' (Correct answer)
- 'Painting as a Model'
- 'Ways of Seeing'
Correct answer: 'Avant-Garde and Kitsch'
'Avant-Garde and Kitsch' (1939) and subsequent essays by Greenberg argued that modernist painting should acknowledge and foreground its flatness and medium specificity.
Question 6: What is 'grisaille' in painting?
- A painting executed entirely in shades of gray to simulate sculpture (Correct answer)
- A preparatory charcoal sketch on canvas
- A technique of scraping wet paint to reveal underlying layers
- A ground layer of white gesso applied before painting
Correct answer: A painting executed entirely in shades of gray to simulate sculpture
Grisaille is a painting method using only gray tones, often used to imitate the appearance of stone sculpture or as an underpainting.
Question 7: What is the primary function of a 'residency' for an MFA graduate?
- To earn a secondary teaching credential
- To provide dedicated time, space, and community for developing an artistic practice (Correct answer)
- To fulfill a requirement for gallery representation
- To complete a second graduate degree concurrently
Correct answer: To provide dedicated time, space, and community for developing an artistic practice
Artist residencies offer uninterrupted studio time, peer community, and often resources like stipends or housing to support artistic development.
MFA (MFA) Random 4
What is a 'vanitas' still life?