Valentine's Day Quiz! How Much Do You Know About the Romantic Masterpieces of Art History?
Written by Susanna Henke
Last updated · 9 min play time
Celebrate Valentine's Day by exploring your knowledge of the most romantic works of art in human history!
Quiz written by
Susanna Henke: Love Art Quiz Questions
20 Questions · 359 Plays · 1 Comment
Question 1
This serene portrait of a couple in bed is by French Post-Impressionist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. The artist's most famous paintings, however, are set at which Paris landmark?
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ATuileries
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BEiffel Tower
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CChamps Élysées
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DMoulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge
The storied Parisian nightclub and its performers were familiar to Toulouse-Lautrec, who lived nearby in the ultra-Bohemian neighborhood of Montmartre.
Question 2
Which renowned pop artist painted the iconic Love image?
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AAndy Warhol
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BClaes Oldenburg
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CKeith Haring
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DRobert Indiana
Robert Indiana
Indiana (1928-2018) originally designed <i>Love</i> in 1965 as a Christmas card commission for the Museum of Modern Art. This first work became the basis for his <i>Love</i> sculpture at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (1970) and a U.S. Postal stamp (1973).
Question 3
This Frida Kahlo self-portrait depicts the artist holding husband Diego Rivera like a mother and her baby. In fact, Rivera was older than Kahlo. What was the age difference of the notoriously tempestuous couple?
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A5 years
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B30 years
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C20 years
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D10 years
20 years
The couple's incongruity also extended to their physical appearances: Frida was just 5' 3" and 100 pounds, while Diego was 6' tall and nearly 300 pounds. But their connection was deep, as Frida expressed exquisitely in her adoring love letters. “Your word travels the entirety of space and reaches my cells which are my stars then goes to yours which are my light."
Question 4
Which Flemish artist painted the lovely but enigmatic Arnolfini Portrait (1434)?
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APeter Paul Rubens
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BPieter Bruegel the Elder
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CJan van Eyck
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DHieronymus Bosch
Jan van Eyck
Van Eyck's masterpiece has confounded art historians for centuries. What ceremony or event is being depicted? Why is it set in a bed chamber (decked out in racy red!)? What the heck are the dog, candle, orange, beads, hand gestures and kicked-off shoes supposed to symbolize? And above all: Who in the heck is reflected in the mirror?
Question 5
Renoir's wonderfully lush Dance at Bougival (1838) captures a moment of pure, romantic escape. What style of painting is this?
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AExpressionist
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BAbstract
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CArt Nouveau
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DImpressionist
Impressionist
Renoir's blissful subjects are dancing at a café en plein air along the Seine.
Question 6
Ancient Hindu temples were often decorated with erotic sculptures of couples (called Mithuna) such as this 13th century relic from Northern India. Which type of relief sculpture is this?
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ASunken Relief
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BLow (or Bas) Relief
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CHigh (or Alto) Relief
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DStiacciato Relief
High (or Alto) Relief
Mithuna sculptures celebrated the union of the human soul with the divine (as well as earthly pleasures).
Question 7
Marc Chagall's dreamlike painting The Birthday (1915) depicts the artist and his then-fiancée floating in a state of euphoric bliss. Where was Marc Chagall from?
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AAustria
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BRussia
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CNew Zealand
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DFrance
Russia
Chagall (1887-1985) once said that "love" was the primary color of his paintings.
Question 8
Suzuki Harunobu's Lovers Beneath an Umbrella in the Snow (c. 1765) is an example of the Ukiyo-e style of Japanese art. Which type of printmaking is this?
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ALithograph
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BWoodblock
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CEtching
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DEngraving
Woodblock
Traditional Japanese woodblock printing was an elaborate project involving multiple artisans: the artist, a block carver, and a printer. One of the six great masters of the art form, Harunobu (c. 1725-70) was the first to produce full color prints (nishiki-e).
Question 9
Erotic? Creepy? Confusing? Mysterious to be sure. Which Surrealist artist painted The Lovers II (1928)?
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AHenri Rousseau
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BSalvador Dalí
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CRené Magritte
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DMax Ernst
René Magritte
Magritte's work is known for deceptively complex images that evoke mystery and challenge the viewer's perception.
Question 10
No collection of romantic art would be complete without Gustav Klimt's iconic Art Nouveau masterpiece The Kiss (1907). What nationality was Klimt?
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ASwiss
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BAustrian
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CGerman
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DSwedish
Austrian
Klimt's stunning painting, gleaming with his trademark gilding, emphasizes the blissful intimacy of his subjects by enveloping them in a single cloak, as if their bodies are merged.
Question 11
Which celebrated photographer snapped this iconic image of a sailor smooching a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day?
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AWilliam Klein
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BLee Friedlander
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CAlfred Eisenstaedt
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DAnsel Adams
Alfred Eisenstaedt
This poignant, spontaneous image captured the elation of that historic day that marked America's victory over Japan and the long-awaited end of World War II. Eisenstaedt's image is the most famous and frequently reproduced photo of the 20th century.
Question 12
Which scandal-ridden artist of the Austrian Expressionist movement painted this surprisingly tender self-portrait with his new wife in 1917?
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AEdvard Munch
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BWassily Kandinsky
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CGustav Klimt
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DEgon Schiele
Egon Schiele
Renowned for his angst-ridden, distorted and often explicitly sexual nudes, Schiele's <i>Embrace</i> represents a style shift in the artist's oeuvre. While the figures are rendered in a characteristically twisted form, their intertwined bodies and affectionate gestures convey a warm intimacy that his earlier work often lacked. Sadly, the new harmony that Schiele appeared to have found was short-lived. One year after completing <i>Embrace</i> in 1917, the Spanish Flu took his wife's life — and three days later, his own.
Question 13
Auguste Rodin's iconic marble culture, The Kiss (1881), depicts Paolo and Francesca — characters from which essential work of the western literary canon?
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AParadise Lost
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BAesop's Fables
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CThe Divine Comedy
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DDecameron
The Divine Comedy
The sculpture depicts two lovers intertwined in a blissful kiss, seemingly without a care in the world. In fact, Paolo and Francesca's love was forbidden. Soon after this stolen kiss, Francesca's husband discovers their deception and kills them both.
Question 14
Rembrandt's subdued, tender portrait is commonly referred to as The Jewish Bride. Which biblical couple do art scholars believe are pictured in this painting?
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AJacob and Rachel
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BAdam and Eve
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CAbraham and Sarah
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DIsaac and Rebecca
Isaac and Rebecca
<i>The Jewish Bride</i> (1665-69), considered one of Rembrandt's finest works, moved fellow painter Van Gogh to say, “I should be happy to give 10 years of my life if I could go on sitting here in front of this picture for two weeks, with only a crust of dry bread for food.”
Question 15
In which century did Pierre-Auguste Cot paint Le Printemps ("Springtime")?
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A15th Century
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B19th Century
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C20th Century
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D18th Century
19th Century
Cot first exhibited </i>Le Printemps</i> at the Paris Salon in 1873. Accompanying the lush portrait of young lovers were the lines: "O primavera! gioventù dell'anno! / O gioventù! primavera della vita!!!" [Oh Spring! Youth of the year! / Oh youth! Springtime of life!!!])
Question 16
What is the title of this 1908 sculpture by Modernist pioneer Constantin Brâncuși?
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ALove
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BThe Embrace
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CThe Kiss
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DThe Couple
The Kiss
The primitive style of Brâncuși's charming sculpture represented a radical break from the Academic doctrine and centuries of grand marble sculpture with precisely rendered human figures. Instead, Brâncuși was inspired by African tribal and Cycladic figures. He carved stone by hand to create a more organic, symbolic human representation, paving the way for Cubism and other abstract styles of Modernism.
Question 17
The Fall of Man (1616) by Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius depicts an unusually earthly and seductive Garden of Eden scene. For which visual art medium was Goltzius best known?
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ATapestry Weaver
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BFilmmaker
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CEngraving
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DSculpture
Engraving
Goltzius was massively famous across Europe for his engravings and prints — so famous that he reportedly needed to go in disguise on a journey to Italy in 1590.
Question 18
Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville is undoubtedly one of the most romantic images in history. Which French photographer took this photo?
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AFélix Nadar
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BRobert Doisneau
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CBrassai
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DHenri Cartier-Bresson
Robert Doisneau
First published in <i>Life</i> magazine in 1950, Doisneau's celebrated image actually didn't rise to iconic status until the 1980s, when it was released in poster format.
Question 19
Antonio Canova's neoclassical masterpiece depicts Cupid reviving his lover Psyche, who has been tricked into ingesting poison by Cupid's own mother: _________.
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ADiana
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BVenus
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CJuneau
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DMinerva
Venus
The forever-jealous Venus, goddess of beauty, really had it out for young Psyche. But in the end, love prevails: the gods permit the couple to marry (and make Psyche the goddess of the soul to boot!)
Question 20
Fragonard's The Bolt (1777) is considered a masterpiece of which artistic style?
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ARealism
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BRococo
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CRenaissance
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DRomanticism
Rococo
Fragonard's sumptuous, highly charged image is packed with carnal symbols, such as the overturned chair, vase and bolt, that would have made the postcoital nature of the scenario crystal clear to his 18th-century audience.
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