Master Pieces:
The Curator's Game
Fun! That is the attraction of playing the Curator's Game, called
Master Pieces. It's a test of the reader's memory against fifty-seven world famous art works. Raphael, Renoir, Titian,
Michelangelo and Dali are among the art masters whose paintings are instantly recognizable.
The game consists of over two hundred questions posed using a small portion of a known work and descriptive clues about the artist.
A Gothic window is displayed. Does that place the work in it's appropriate time frame or give a clue to the title or artist? The
window in this example was created by an American, Grant Wood, painter of the Americana classic
American Gothic
In another image appears a tiny dog but which painting is it? Not as easy for that dog isn't an integral part unlike
the little princess famously depicted in Las Meninas. The puppy,
in this question, is found at the foot of the couple in The Arnolfini Marriage
A clue might read something like "This man depicted in this portrait knows his art. The artist, son of an illustrator, favors
the farm country of Pennsylvania and Maine for his subjects." The artist rather obviously is Andrew Wyeth and the subject is
Thomas Hoving author of Masterpieces: The Curator's Game. That particular image is on the back of the book making this truly a must
read from cover to cover!
Each of the paintings featured in the game are illustrated in full at the end of the book accompanied by descriptive
and anecdotal text from the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1967-1977) Thomas Hoving.
The game is enjoyable the key is observation.
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