Q 01/05

The dark tree at the left of The Starry Night is often described as shaped like what?

A) A wave

B) A flame

C) A feather

D) A fountain

Answer · why

B) A flame

A flame: the real trees stood far off beyond the field wall, but he pulled one up close, where it towers over the whole scene.

Q 02/05

In which city has The Starry Night hung since 1941?

A) Paris

B) London

C) New York

D) Berlin

Answer · why

C) New York

New York's Museum of Modern Art acquired it in 1941 through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest, and it has since become one of the most recognised paintings ...

Q 03/05

The church steeple in The Starry Night looks more like those of which country than those of France?

A) The Netherlands

B) Switzerland

C) Great Britain

D) Germany

Answer · why

A) The Netherlands

The Netherlands, where he grew up as a pastor's son: the tall spire matches Dutch churches better than any he could see near the asylum.

Q 04/05

How did Van Gogh come to enter the asylum in May 1889?

A) A court ordered it

B) Theo had him committed

C) Police took him there

D) He admitted himself

Answer · why

D) He admitted himself

He admitted himself: fearing a fresh attack, Van Gogh chose to go, and he stayed for a full year, painting whenever his health allowed.

Q 05/05

Van Gogh told Theo he looked out from his asylum bedroom through what?

A) Wooden shutters

B) Frosted glass

C) Iron bars

D) A skylight

Answer · why

C) Iron bars

Iron bars, he wrote, yet what he dwelt on lay beyond them: an enclosed field, and each morning the sun rising over it in its glory.