I’ve covered stories about the Eiffel Tower on this site perhaps more than any other topic. This week I thought I’d serve up depictions of the famous monument by some of France’s renowned painters and illustrators. To liven things up, I thought I’d offer readers a challenge. Below, I’ve listed the names of all of the artists whose work appears on the page. Can you map the artist to the numbered artwork? The solutions are at the bottom.
Here are their names:
- Henri Rousseau
- Georges Seurat
- Jean Cocteau
- Georges Garen
- Paul Signac
- Jean-Jacques Sempé
- Pierre Bonnard
- Fernand Léger
- Marc Chagall
- Henri Rivière
- Raoul Dufy
- Camille Grávis
- Bernard Buffet
- Robert Delaunay
Enjoy!
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Answer Key
1. Paul Signac, 1889 2. Fernand Léger, 1959 3. Marc Chagall, 1910 4. Bernard Buffet, 1987 5. Jean Cocteau, 1939 6. Georges Serat, 1889 7. Camille Grávis, 1889 8. Raoul Dufy, 1935 9. Robert Delaunay, 1910 10. Henri Rousseau, 1910 11. Georges Garen, 1889 12. Pierre Bonnard, 1923 13. Jean Jacques Sempé, circa 1960 14. Henri Rivière, 1902
How’d You Do?
Let me know below.
Abysmally. What a fun idea you came up, Carol.
Suzanne Murray
Glad you enjoyed it.
10/14 Fun! I wasn’t familiar with the work of Rivière or Garen.
Bravo! I recommend you look up Rivière. He and Delaunay did many different takes of the Eiffel Tower. Delaunay’s are largely abstract. Rivière’s provide insightful documentation of what life was like in Paris at the turn of the 20th century.
Very interesting! I think I like Chagall’s version the most.
I agree that Chagall’s is excellent. Hard for me to pick a favorite. Delaunay did dozens of paintings of the Eiffel Tower and I love many of them individually but as a collection, they’re even more magnificent.
Thanks Carol. What fun!
Thanks for weighing in Kathy!
Unfortunately I know almost nothing about art, so I was not able to guess any of the artists (except those whose signatures appear on their works), but it’s interesting seeing the same structure depicted in so many different styles.
I would not have recognized Rousseau’s painting as being the Eiffel Tower at all. Was he perhaps trying to depict only the very top part?
Well, that’s the beauty of being the test creator. You don’t get to take your own test so you never know how you would fare on it. 🙂
Two of these artists were new to me: Bernard Buffet and the engraver Camille Grávis. I love the latter’s depiction which might be his only work that is still known. I’d seen all of the other renderings before but that doesn’t mean I would have successfully assigned the correct author to each one.
I agree that Rousseau’s painting is not very recognizable. The bridge in the foreground and the fact that there aren’t other towers that even remotely resemble the Eiffel work in his favor. He didn’t start painting until his 40s and gave up the practice before he turned 50. While a few of his works are quite striking, I find most of them to be fairly juvenile and evidence of a short period of practice.
So cool!
Glad you enjoyed them Emma. Did you happen to zoom in on the one by Sempé? The woman sees something out the window that adds even more delight to the composition. Sempé is a gift to humankind.
A delightful, creative exercise, Carol. I’m sure my husband would ace it, as he had an art and custom framing business. I needed the artists’ signatures to help me.
Nice to know about your husband, Annie. You should put him to the test. Ha!
That was fun. 8/14. Should have done better, I guess, I didn’t catch Bonnard or Dufy. Douanier Rousseau was interesting. Never saw that painting before…
Bonne semaine.
Sounds like you did well. Note: 17 sur 20. Très bien!
À toi aussi Brieuc.