AMA Final Exam Updated Study Guide
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
Jean (Hans) Arp - CORRECT ANSWER Jean (Hans) Arp
Collage Arranged According to the Laws of Chance
1917
torn and pasted paper
19 ¼ X 13 ½"
Zurich Dada
The abstraction he turned to in his art was inspired by the nature and organic shapes he
observed for years in the landscape in Switzerland.
Geometric abstraction based on cubism.
Married Sophie Taeuber. The laws of chance were more in tune with the workings of nature.
He literally tore up a painting he didn't like and let the pieces scatter on the floor.
-Liberated him from natural thought processes and felt more in tune with the workings of
nature
Sophie Taeuber - CORRECT ANSWER Sophie Taeuber
Dada Head
1920
painted wood
13 ¼" height
Mannequin-like dada constructions.
Hat-stand like sculptures, many of which are portraits of Arp
-Did not restrict herself to traditional fine art media
-Reminiscent of oceanic and west coast indian artifacts
-Text used on the head is reminiscent of cubism
-One of the few Dada sculptures
,Marcel Duchamp - CORRECT ANSWER Marcel Duchamp
Bicycle Wheel
1951 (3rd version after lost original 1913)
assemblage: metal wheel mounted on painted wood stool.
"manufactured objects promoted to the dignity of art through the choice of the artist."
-visual indifference
-Considered pre-made objects to be "assisted" readymades
-He considered almost everything to be an assisted readymades
-Sense of humor/witty piece
-he liked to spin the wheel...it relaxed him.
-he only made a few readymades each year b/c they were easy to make and he didn't want
them to lose their impact.
Man Ray - CORRECT ANSWER Man Ray
Gift
replica of lost original of 1921
flatiron with nails
American Avant-Garde
Met Duchamp and adopted the Dada spirit.
inspired by Duchamp's "assisted" readymades.
Black humor, characteristic to Man Ray.
-Subverted an iron's normal utilitarian function by attaching fourteen tacks to it's surface,
transforming this familiar objects into something alien and threatening.
-Destruction- Dark humor- if you used it to iron something,it it would destroy it.
-A gift to the gallery owner for his first show
Hannah Hoch - CORRECT ANSWER Hannah Hoch
Cut with the Kitchen Knife
, Berlin Dada Through the Last
Weimar Beer Belly
Cultural Epoch Germany
1920
Photomontage
45 X 35 ½"
-Photomontage of Dada colleagues, communist leaders, dancer, sports figures, and dada
slogans.
-Gears and wheels are a tribute to the machine.
-preponderance of female imagery in her work, indicative of her interest in the new roles of
women in postwar Germany.
-Readymade in a way...because it's a montage of other pictures/assisted readymades
-Kitchen knives--reference to women's roles before the war.
-Dada=anti-everything..this piece was readymade and anti-everything.
Kurt Schwitters - CORRECT ANSWER Kurt Schwitters
Picture with Light Center
1919
-Merz
collage of cut-and-pasted
papers and oil on cardboard
33 ¼ X 26"
-Made his collages of rubbish he found laying around and transformed them into wonderful
works of beauty.
-This is a perfect example of how Schwitters could extract elegance from these lowly found
materials.
-Created new society out of old/found objects.
-Cubist inspired (grid looking/Picasso)
-He began as a German expressionist, but wanted to become more abstract, so he ventured
into Dadaism, but they rejected him because of his classical training, so he basically mixed
the two.
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
Jean (Hans) Arp - CORRECT ANSWER Jean (Hans) Arp
Collage Arranged According to the Laws of Chance
1917
torn and pasted paper
19 ¼ X 13 ½"
Zurich Dada
The abstraction he turned to in his art was inspired by the nature and organic shapes he
observed for years in the landscape in Switzerland.
Geometric abstraction based on cubism.
Married Sophie Taeuber. The laws of chance were more in tune with the workings of nature.
He literally tore up a painting he didn't like and let the pieces scatter on the floor.
-Liberated him from natural thought processes and felt more in tune with the workings of
nature
Sophie Taeuber - CORRECT ANSWER Sophie Taeuber
Dada Head
1920
painted wood
13 ¼" height
Mannequin-like dada constructions.
Hat-stand like sculptures, many of which are portraits of Arp
-Did not restrict herself to traditional fine art media
-Reminiscent of oceanic and west coast indian artifacts
-Text used on the head is reminiscent of cubism
-One of the few Dada sculptures
,Marcel Duchamp - CORRECT ANSWER Marcel Duchamp
Bicycle Wheel
1951 (3rd version after lost original 1913)
assemblage: metal wheel mounted on painted wood stool.
"manufactured objects promoted to the dignity of art through the choice of the artist."
-visual indifference
-Considered pre-made objects to be "assisted" readymades
-He considered almost everything to be an assisted readymades
-Sense of humor/witty piece
-he liked to spin the wheel...it relaxed him.
-he only made a few readymades each year b/c they were easy to make and he didn't want
them to lose their impact.
Man Ray - CORRECT ANSWER Man Ray
Gift
replica of lost original of 1921
flatiron with nails
American Avant-Garde
Met Duchamp and adopted the Dada spirit.
inspired by Duchamp's "assisted" readymades.
Black humor, characteristic to Man Ray.
-Subverted an iron's normal utilitarian function by attaching fourteen tacks to it's surface,
transforming this familiar objects into something alien and threatening.
-Destruction- Dark humor- if you used it to iron something,it it would destroy it.
-A gift to the gallery owner for his first show
Hannah Hoch - CORRECT ANSWER Hannah Hoch
Cut with the Kitchen Knife
, Berlin Dada Through the Last
Weimar Beer Belly
Cultural Epoch Germany
1920
Photomontage
45 X 35 ½"
-Photomontage of Dada colleagues, communist leaders, dancer, sports figures, and dada
slogans.
-Gears and wheels are a tribute to the machine.
-preponderance of female imagery in her work, indicative of her interest in the new roles of
women in postwar Germany.
-Readymade in a way...because it's a montage of other pictures/assisted readymades
-Kitchen knives--reference to women's roles before the war.
-Dada=anti-everything..this piece was readymade and anti-everything.
Kurt Schwitters - CORRECT ANSWER Kurt Schwitters
Picture with Light Center
1919
-Merz
collage of cut-and-pasted
papers and oil on cardboard
33 ¼ X 26"
-Made his collages of rubbish he found laying around and transformed them into wonderful
works of beauty.
-This is a perfect example of how Schwitters could extract elegance from these lowly found
materials.
-Created new society out of old/found objects.
-Cubist inspired (grid looking/Picasso)
-He began as a German expressionist, but wanted to become more abstract, so he ventured
into Dadaism, but they rejected him because of his classical training, so he basically mixed
the two.
