The Famous Art Quiz shows you an original artwork — a painting, a print, or a photograph of a sculpture — and asks you to identify the artist from four options. Questions are drawn randomly from a pool of 100+ works, shuffled fresh each game so repeat plays always feel different.
Before starting you choose how many questions you want: 10 for a quick round, 20 for a solid session, 30 for a proper challenge, or Endless mode to work through the full catalog. You can also filter by category if you want to focus on a specific movement or era — useful if you want to drill Impressionism before trying the full mix.
After each answer a fact panel slides in with a compelling detail about the work or its creator — the kind of thing that sticks. You can pause at any time and share your score when you're done.
All artworks in this quiz are fully in the public domain. Every artist featured passed before 1926, meaning their works carry no copyright restrictions. Images are sourced from Wikimedia Commons, the same repository used by Wikipedia, the Smithsonian, and major academic institutions worldwide.
The 11 Categories
The quiz organizes its 100+ questions into 11 distinct movements and traditions. Each category can be played on its own or mixed into the full shuffle.
Bruegel, Jan van Eyck, Bosch, Durer, Holbein, Cranach, Altdorfer
⚡Expressionism
7 questions
Edvard Munch, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Franz Marc, Ernst Kirchner, August Macke
🌞Spanish Masters
7 questions
Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Murillo, Zurbarán
Artists Featured
The quiz spans over 30 artists across seven centuries and six artistic traditions. Here is the full roster with key works and era context.
Impressionism & Post-Impressionism
The French Impressionists revolutionized painting in the 1860s and 1870s by abandoning the studio in favor of painting outdoors, capturing light as it actually appeared rather than as academic convention dictated. The Post-Impressionists built on and reacted against this foundation, each pushing in radical new directions that laid the groundwork for 20th-century modern art.
Claude Monet1840–1926 · Water Lilies, Impression Sunrise, Haystacks · The father of Impressionism and the movement's most prolific practitioner
Pierre-Auguste Renoir1841–1919 · Luncheon of the Boating Party · Known for his warm, sensuous scenes of leisure and celebration
Edgar Degas1834–1917 · The Dance Class · Made over 1,500 works depicting ballet; preferred artificial light to outdoor painting
Edouard Manet1832–1883 · Olympia, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere · The bridge between Realism and Impressionism; caused multiple public scandals
Camille Pissarro1830–1903 · Boulevard Montmartre · The only artist to exhibit in all eight Impressionist exhibitions
Vincent van Gogh1853–1890 · The Starry Night, Sunflowers · Produced over 2,100 works in just a decade; sold only one painting during his lifetime
Paul Gauguin1848–1903 · Where Do We Come From? · Left Paris for Tahiti seeking a more spiritually honest life
Paul Cezanne1839–1906 · The Card Players, Mont Sainte-Victoire · Called the father of modern art by both Picasso and Matisse
Georges Seurat1859–1891 · A Sunday on La Grande Jatte · Invented Pointillism; died at 31 leaving one of the most influential bodies of work of the era
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec1864–1901 · At the Moulin Rouge · Transformed the Moulin Rouge cabaret into an enduring icon of the Belle Epoque
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance — roughly 1400 to 1600 — saw an explosion of artistic innovation rooted in the rediscovery of classical antiquity, the rise of humanist philosophy, and the extraordinary patronage of the Medici family and the Catholic Church. The artists of this period set the standard for Western art for the next four centuries.
Leonardo da Vinci1452–1519 · Last Supper, Vitruvian Man · The supreme Renaissance polymath — painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist
Michelangelo1475–1564 · Creation of Adam, David (sculpture) · Painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling alone in four years; sculpted David at age 26
Raphael1483–1520 · School of Athens · Painted himself into his masterpiece; depicted Leonardo as Plato and Michelangelo as Heraclitus
Sandro Botticelli1445–1510 · The Birth of Venus, Primavera · Fell out of fashion after his death; rediscovered in the 19th century by the Pre-Raphaelites
Titianc.1488–1576 · Venus of Urbino, Assumption of the Virgin · Became court painter to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V; lived to approximately 90
Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Golden Age — roughly 1588 to 1672 — produced one of the most remarkable concentrations of artistic talent in history. A prosperous merchant class with no interest in religious painting created a booming market for portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and intimate domestic scenes. The results were extraordinary.
Johannes Vermeer1632–1675 · Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Milkmaid · Known output of only 34–36 paintings; died deeply in debt; rediscovered in the 1860s
Rembrandt van Rijn1606–1669 · The Night Watch, Self-Portrait with Two Circles · Painted over 80 self-portraits; went bankrupt in 1656
Frans Hals1582–1666 · The Laughing Cavalier, The Merry Drinker · Master of capturing fleeting expressions; died in a poorhouse; later called the greatest painter who ever lived by Manet
Carel Fabritius1622–1654 · The Goldfinch · Killed in the Delft Thunderclap at 32; only 12 surviving works; inspiration for Donna Tartt's Pulitzer novel
Japanese Art
Japanese woodblock prints — ukiyo-e, or pictures of the floating world — were originally cheap mass-market products sold for the price of a bowl of noodles. When they arrived in Europe in the 1860s packed as wrapping paper around ceramics, they caused a revolution. Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Cassatt all collected them obsessively, and their influence on Impressionist composition was profound and direct.
Katsushika Hokusai1760–1849 · The Great Wave, Red Fuji · Changed his name 30+ times; began his most famous series at age 70; estimated total output of 30,000 works
Utagawa Hiroshige1797–1858 · Sudden Shower, Plum Park · Van Gogh made oil painting copies of his prints; died of cholera at 61
Toshusai Sharakuactive 1794–1795 · Actor portraits · Produced 145 prints in 10 months then vanished; identity never established
Kitagawa Utamaro1753–1806 · Close-up female portraits · Pioneer of the large-format face portrait; arrested by the Tokugawa government in 1804
Classical Sculpture
The quiz includes both ancient Greek sculptures and the great Renaissance and Baroque masters of marble and bronze. Sculpture questions show high-quality museum photographs of the works.
Michelangelo1475–1564 · David · Carved from a block two other sculptors had rejected; David weighs over 12,000 pounds
Auguste Rodin1840–1917 · The Thinker, The Kiss · Over 28 authorized bronze casts of The Thinker exist worldwide
Gian Lorenzo Bernini1598–1680 · Apollo and Daphne, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa · Carved Apollo and Daphne at age 23; redefined what marble could do
Donatello1386–1466 · Bronze David · First free-standing nude bronze since antiquity; commissioned by the Medici
Antonio Canova1757–1822 · Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss · The defining Neoclassical sculptor; the Pope personally secured his release from Napoleon's Paris
The quiz features 100+ works spanning seven centuries, from ancient Greek sculpture through the Expressionist movement of the early 20th century. You'll see works held in the Louvre, MoMA, the Uffizi, the Prado, the Rijksmuseum, the National Gallery London, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, the Hermitage, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Are the artworks really public domain?
Yes, completely. Every artist in the quiz passed before 1926, meaning their works are in the public domain worldwide with no copyright restrictions. This is why the quiz is free — there are no licensing costs involved.
What's the hardest category?
Most players find Japanese Art and Northern Renaissance the most challenging — the artists are less widely known in Western popular culture. If you want to ease in, start with Impressionism or Post-Impressionism, where artists like Van Gogh, Monet, and Degas are familiar from posters and popular culture. Then work up to the harder categories.
Why no Picasso or Basquiat?
Both artists are still under copyright — Picasso died in 1973 (protected until 2043) and Basquiat died in 1988 (protected until 2058). Including their actual paintings would require licensing fees. The quiz sticks to works that are genuinely free to use, which keeps it free for you.
Can I play on mobile?
Yes — the quiz is fully responsive and works on any device. The two-column answer grid switches to single column on smaller screens for easier tapping.
More Art Trivia
Want the questions and answers spelled out? The Famous Art Trivia Q&A companion has 50+ questions with full answers and extended facts — good for studying before you play, or settling arguments after.