The great British art quiz: set by Pallant House Gallery, Chichester

1. 

   The brick gateposts at the front of Pallant House Gallery's Queen Anne townhouse are topped by stone sculptures depicting which creature from the family crest of Henry Peckham, the wine merchant who built the house in 1712-13?

   1. Greyhounds

   2. Deer

   3. Ostriches

   4. Ducks

2. 

   Which French artist painted this intimate depiction of a woman combing her hair?

   1. Pierre Bonnard

   2. Paul Gauguin

   3. Édouard Vuillard

   4. Édouard Manet

3. 

   A similar work by the French impressionist artist Edgar Degas recently joined the Pallant House Gallery collection. It had once belonged to which American socialite, who married into the English aristocracy and is depicted as a sphinx at Blenheim Palace?

   1. Gladys Deacon, Duchess of Marlborough

   2. Maud Cunard, Lady Cunard

   3. Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor

   4. Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

4. 

   This lithograph by Dame Paula Rego depicts a scene from which 19th century English novel?

   1. Jane Eyre

   2. Frankenstein

   3. Bleak House

   4. The Woman in White

5. 

   Which Royal Academician was best known for his sensitive paintings of the Jamaican model Henry Thomas?

   1. Sir Alfred Munnings

   2. Glyn Philpot

   3. Augustus John

   4. Walter Sickert

6. 

   This painting is called China Dogs in a St Ives Window, but which of these artists painted it?

   1. Alfred Wallis

   2. Ben Nicholson

   3. Christopher Wood

   4. Terry Frost

7. 

   British pop artist Patrick Caulfield painted this work in 1963, but which modern artist does it portray?

   1. Paul Cézanne

   2. Henri Matisse

   3. Pablo Picasso

   4. Juan Gris

8. 

   Which of the following British artists in the Pallant House Gallery collection painted some of his most-loved paintings while living in a Gypsy caravan in the South Downs just north of Chichester?

   1. Edward Bawden

   2. Paul Nash

   3. Ivon Hitchens

   4. John Piper

Solutions

1:C - Ostriches were the adopted crest of the Peckham family. They were probably carved by a local stonemason who had never seen an ostrich, and the birds are often said to resemble dodos. To this day the house is known as the 'dodo' house by locals. A recent public poll resulted in the birds being named Tracey and Barbara after Tracey Emin and Barbara Hepworth, two artists represented in the collection. Image: Christopher Ison, 2:C - A significant oil painting by Édouard Vuillard from 1903, the portrait translates as Model Seated in a Chair, Combing Her Hair. It depicts a brunette model in the artist’s studio in Rue Truffaut in Paris, where his mother ran a family sewing business. Vuillard's world was one infused by the feminine, depicting textured interiors of fabrics and wallpaper in which men rarely appear. Image: Model Seated in a Chair, Combing Her Hair c.1903, Édouard Vuillard (1868–1940), Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 3:A - Gladys Deacon, Duchess of Marlborough (1881–1977) was the mistress and later second wife of Charles Spencer-Churchill, ninth Duke of Marlborough. She was painted by Giovanni Boldini, John Singer Sargent and appears as a sculpted sphinx in the grounds of Blenheim Palace. Image: Femme se peignant (Woman combing her hair) c.1887-90, by Edgar Degas (1834–1917), Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 4:A - Rego has long had a fascination with Charlotte Brontë’s novel Jane Eyre. This shows Jane on the floor in the red room. Rego has said: “I redrew it again and it looked rather crumpled. That’s why I called it Crumpled. She’s having a fit and she’s been thrown away like a used newspaper.” It forms part of the Golder–Thompson Gift, a collection of more than 350 contemporary prints. Image: Crumpled, 2002, Paula Rego (b.1935), © the artist, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 5:B - Glyn Philpot (1884–1937) was a society portraitist and the youngest Royal Academician when he was elected, who painted everyone from royalty to Siegfried Sassoon and Dame Nellie Melba. He caused shocked headlines such as "Philpot goes Picasso" when he moved to Paris and changed to a modernist style associated with art deco, painting images that revealed his homosexuality. Image: Henry Thomas, Glyn Warren Philpot, Pallant House Gallery, 6:C - Christopher Wood painted this work during his stay in St Ives in 1926. It predates his trip to St Ives with Ben Nicholson in 1928 when the two artists met the Cornish fisherman-artist Alfred Wallis, who was known for painting fishing boats. Both Wood and Nicholson sought to convey a sense of naivety in their work at this time, drawing on traditional folk art. Image: China Dogs in a St Ives Window, 1926, Christopher Wood (1901–1930), Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 7:D - Pallant House Gallery has the complete set of studies for this 1963 painting in its collection, which shows that Patrick Caulfield began painting a homage to Paul Cézanne, but decided instead to paint the Spanish cubist painter Juan Gris (1887–1927). It forms part of the gallery's important collection of British pop art.  Image: Juan Gris, 1963, Patrick Caulfield (1936–2005), © the artist’s estate, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester, 8:C - Ivon Hitchens moved to a caravan in the South Downs after his London studio was damaged in the Blitz. He stayed in the area for the rest of his life, capturing the stunning Sussex landscapes in paintings filled with swathes of bright colour. Pallant House Gallery held the major exhibition Ivon Hitchens: Space through Colour in 2019. Image: Flowers, 1942, Ivon Hitchens (1893–1979), © the artist’s estate, Pallant House Gallery, Chichester

Scores

1. 6 and above.

   Seriously impressive – you certainly know your Paul Nash from your John Piper.

2. 0 and above.

   Hmm ... perhaps a trip to Chichester is in order once we get out of quarantine.

3. 3 and above.

   Room for improvement but not too shabby.