Art Trivia
Did You Know?
Gothic was originally a term of criticism among the Italian Renaissance artists who coined it. The term implied that, compared to superior classical buildings, the Gothic medieval cathedrals were so crude that only a Goth could produce them. By indirectly condemning the Goths, the Italian architects revived an old hatred. The southward migration of these warring, loathsome German barbarians in the fifth century A.D. had contributed to the decline of ancient Rome.
American artist, Charles Wilson Peale named most of his 17 children after famous artists – including Rembrandt, Titian, Rubens, and Raphael.
Before Grant Wood became an artist and created his classic “American Gothic” in 1930, he worked as a farmer and a silversmith.
Cosmetics queen Helena Rubenstein provided the money to help artist Marc Chagall and his wife flee the Nazis and move to New York City in 1941.
During the Renaissance era, artists could not show woman’s toes or bare feet in their paintings.
James McNeill Whistler’s best known painting, often called “Whistler’s Mother,” is actually titled “Arrangement in Black and Gray: The Artist’s Mother.”
King Francis I of France is reported to have paid master artist Leonardo da Vinci 4,000 gold crowns for his masterpiece “Mona Lisa,” but the king did not get immediate possession. Da Vinci kept the painting hanging on a wall of his chateau to the day he died.
The four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are all named after artists and/or sculptors. However, Donatello does not occur in the same time period as Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
Renaissance artist Michelangelo’s last name was Buonarroti.
The first American publisher of valentines was printer and artist Esther Howland. During the 1870s, her elaborate lace cards were purchased by the wealthy, as they cost a minimum of 5 dollars — some sold for as much as 35 dollars. Mass production eventually brought prices down, and the affordable “penny valentine” became popular with the lower classes.
Claude Monet’s 100,000-franc winnings in the French lottery in 1891 allowed him to quit his job as a messenger and try his luck at what he really enjoyed--painting.
Glue dates back to prehistoric times. Artists once mixed colorings with raw eggs, dried blood, and plant juices to make sticky paints for cave murals. Later, ancient Egyptians and other peoples learned to make stronger glues by boiling animal bones and hides.
Paul Gaugin, the French painter, was a laborer on the Panama Canal. About 25,000 workers died during its construction.
Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali had his wife pose for the face of Christ in his painting “Sacrament of the Last Supper.”
The largest painting measures 92,419 square feet and was completed by ID Cultur in Amsterdam, Netherlands on August 14, 1996.
While known as a painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer, Leonard da Vinci was the first to record that the number of rings in the cross section of a tree trunk revealed its age. He also discovered that the width between the rings indicated the annual moisture.
Van Gogh only sold one painting during his entire lifetime. The painting was called “Red Vineyard At Arles.”
The painting “Whistler’s Mother” was once sold in a pawn shop.
The first eraser was a balled-up piece of bread.
Salvador Dali was kicked out of art school
Grandma Moses didn’t start painting until she was in her 70’s.
Pablo Picasso’s career lasted seventy-eight years, from 1895 until his death in 1973.
The painting, “American Gothic” depicts the sister and the dentist of artist Grant Wood as rural farm folk.
Leonardo da Vinci earned a substantial part of his income from banner painting. The fabric banners were used for festivals and advertising and not considered art; his fine art was done on wood panels.
President Reagan was the first to proclaim 8 ½” x 11” as the official standard size for paper in the United States.
The color Indian Yellow was originally made from crystallized urine collected from cows fed on mango leaves.
The color “Mummy” was originally made from ground Egyptian mummies. It was a mixture of bone ash and asphaltum. Once the grisly truth about “mummy” was known, Van Dyke Brown was created to replace it.
The color Carmine was originally made from powdered cochineal beetles.
