KS1 History of Art | Understanding Historical Evidence

History Quiz - Art (Questions)

This quiz addresses the requirements of the National Curriculum KS1 History for children aged 5, 6 and 7 in years 1 and 2. Specifically this quiz is aimed at the section dealing with understanding historical evidence in, for example, art.

As KS1 children develop their understanding of historical evidence, data and artefacts, they may learn about how art has changed over time and how art movements and styles have been influenced by the changing world. They may ask questions about paintings or sculptures, using them to gain an understanding of life at the time, or they may look at historical evidence to learn more about a particularly influential artist's life.

Very early art was created by cavemen. Often, they would...

[ ]	design intricate jewellery which they wore to parties
[ ]	paint portraits of people who were famous at the time
[ ]	make sculptures from marble
[ ]	paint simple pictures onto their cave walls

Even very early artists painted portraits of people. How do these portraits help historians?

[ ]	By showing them which colours the artist liked best
[ ]	By telling them more about fashion, wealth and lifestyles at the time of the painting
[ ]	By showing them which was the most popular eye colour in history
[ ]	By telling them what the subject of the portrait was thinking while they were being painted

Many artists throughout history have been famous for their landscape painting. Landscapes are...

[ ]	paintings which always have people in them
[ ]	always painted in watercolours
[ ]	always done in black and white
[ ]	paintings or pictures of scenery or the environment

Ancient Egyptian artists were usually employed to decorate the walls of tombs or pyramids. They did this by...

[ ]	painting people, animals and symbols onto the walls to protect the person buried there
[ ]	draping the tomb with ribbons and balloons
[ ]	leaving some paints inside the tomb by mistake
[ ]	writing a long letter about why they loved art

Some ancient churches are decorated with beautiful artwork. Which of the following would you not expect to see in a church?

[ ]	Detailed stained glass windows portraying bible stories or saints
[ ]	Large fancy benches shaped like animals
[ ]	Intricate carved stonework
[ ]	Hanging murals or painted ceilings

Some modern artists painted pictures of strange items in unusual settings. They were known as...

[ ]	bizzaretists
[ ]	unusualists
[ ]	strangers
[ ]	surrealists

An art movement in the 1950s focused on using photographs, comics and images from popular culture in unusual ways. This was known as...

[ ]	Pip art
[ ]	Crackle art
[ ]	Snap art
[ ]	Pop art

Pablo Picasso was a famous Spanish artist who painted in an abstract style. This was called:

[ ]	cubism
[ ]	squarism
[ ]	trianglism
[ ]	circlism

Historians can compare works of art by the same artist in order to...

[ ]	learn more about what sort of music people listened to at the time
[ ]	decide which was the artist's favourite colour
[ ]	work out where they lived when they painted
[ ]	understand how the artist's life changed and which events might have influenced him or her

10.

Art history is important because:

[ ]	it's nice to read a book about art
[ ]	art helps historians learn about lifestyles, fashions and events through history
[ ]	historians love looking at paintings
[ ]	it helps historians decide what colours they like best

History Quiz - Art (Answers)

Very early art was created by cavemen. Often, they would...

[ ]	design intricate jewellery which they wore to parties
[ ]	paint portraits of people who were famous at the time
[ ]	make sculptures from marble
[x]	paint simple pictures onto their cave walls

Simple cave art has been found in many countries around the world

Even very early artists painted portraits of people. How do these portraits help historians?

[ ]	By showing them which colours the artist liked best
[x]	By telling them more about fashion, wealth and lifestyles at the time of the painting
[ ]	By showing them which was the most popular eye colour in history
[ ]	By telling them what the subject of the portrait was thinking while they were being painted

Even a simple portrait can give a historian lots of clues about the past

Many artists throughout history have been famous for their landscape painting. Landscapes are...

[ ]	paintings which always have people in them
[ ]	always painted in watercolours
[ ]	always done in black and white
[x]	paintings or pictures of scenery or the environment

A landscape can be colour or black and white, in any media and does not need to contain people

Ancient Egyptian artists were usually employed to decorate the walls of tombs or pyramids. They did this by...

[x]	painting people, animals and symbols onto the walls to protect the person buried there
[ ]	draping the tomb with ribbons and balloons
[ ]	leaving some paints inside the tomb by mistake
[ ]	writing a long letter about why they loved art

The pictures and symbols are called hieroglyphs and they all have a certain meaning

Some ancient churches are decorated with beautiful artwork. Which of the following would you not expect to see in a church?

[ ]	Detailed stained glass windows portraying bible stories or saints
[x]	Large fancy benches shaped like animals
[ ]	Intricate carved stonework
[ ]	Hanging murals or painted ceilings

Artwork found in churches can tell historians a lot about how worship and faith has changed over time

Some modern artists painted pictures of strange items in unusual settings. They were known as...

[ ]	bizzaretists
[ ]	unusualists
[ ]	strangers
[x]	surrealists

Surrealism began in the 1920s and paintings often showed real items in dream-like settings or vice versa

An art movement in the 1950s focused on using photographs, comics and images from popular culture in unusual ways. This was known as...

[ ]	Pip art
[ ]	Crackle art
[ ]	Snap art
[x]	Pop art

Andy Warhol was a famous artist from this movement and painted tins of soup in bright colours

Pablo Picasso was a famous Spanish artist who painted in an abstract style. This was called:

[x]	cubism
[ ]	squarism
[ ]	trianglism
[ ]	circlism

Cubist artists painted items which were broken up and then reassembled in angular ways

Historians can compare works of art by the same artist in order to...

[ ]	learn more about what sort of music people listened to at the time
[ ]	decide which was the artist's favourite colour
[ ]	work out where they lived when they painted
[x]	understand how the artist's life changed and which events might have influenced him or her

Artists often change their style a great deal over a lifetime as they try new techniques and media

10.

Art history is important because:

[ ]	it's nice to read a book about art
[x]	art helps historians learn about lifestyles, fashions and events through history
[ ]	historians love looking at paintings
[ ]	it helps historians decide what colours they like best

Art can tell us a great deal about how the world around us has changed throughout history