Which Came First: Art Edition

Question: Which came first: fresco painting or oil painting on canvas?

Answer: Fresco, a method of painting on walls, was practiced earlier, beginning in ancient times. Oil painting on canvas came into practice about the 16th century.

Question: Which came first: J.M.W. Turner’s turbulent seascapes or Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night?

Answer: Turner painted his seascapes in the early to mid-19th century and is considered a Romantic painter. Post-Impressionist van Gogh painted Starry Night in 1889, a year before he died.

Question: Which came first: German Expressionism or Abstract Expressionism?

Answer: German Expressionism was practiced in the late 19th century. Abstract Expressionism was an American movement that emerged in New York City after World War II.

Question: Which came first: the Armory Show or the Degenerate Art exhibition?

Answer: The Armory Show, a landmark of Modern art, was held in New York City in 1913. The Degenerate Art exhibition was organized in Germany in 1937 and consisted of works of art deemed subversive and confiscated by the Nazi Party from leading avant-garde artists.

Question: Which came first: Fauvism or Cubism?

Answer: Fauvism preceded and briefly overlapped Cubism, which began to develop in 1907.

Question: Which came first: Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans or Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, a urinal signed “R. Mutt”?

Answer: Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain was made in 1917, during the Dada period. Andy Warhol made his Campbell’s Soup Cans paintings in 1962.

Question: Which came first: Realism or Romanticism?

Answer: Romanticism came first, in the early part of the 19th century. Realism took hold about 1850.

Question: Which came first: Michelangelo’s David or Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper?

Answer: Leonardo painted The Last Supper between 1495 and 1498. Michelangelo’s David was completed in 1504.