Who burned down this man's summer home? The great British art quiz

This quiz is brought to you in collaboration with Art UK, the online home for the UK’s public art collections, showing art from more than 3,000 venues and by 45,000 artists. Each day, a different collection on Art UK will set the questions. 

Today, our questions are from Victoria Gallery & Museum, University of Liverpool. The collection is rich in watercolours from the Golden Age together with stand-out oil paintings by JMW Turner, Joseph Wright of Derby and John James Audubon. From the 1960s works were purchased by contemporary artists including Elisabeth Frink, Lucian Freud, Gillian Ayres and Euan Uglow. The collection continues to look forward with recent acquisitions, including an artwork by Fiona Banner. 

You can see art from Victoria Gallery & Museum, University of Liverpool on Art UK here. Find out more on the gallery’s website here.

JMW Turner was drawn to turbulent atmospheric change and dramatic lighting. No wonder he chose to paint this volcanic eruption. Where did he position himself to capture the scene on St Vincent?

On a boat

At the top of a hill

At the window of his accommodation

In his home Turner was safe at home and recreated the scene from his studio. He based his composition on a sketch by Hugh P Keane, who was really there. Keane was a barrister and plantation owner on St Vincent. 

Image: The Eruption of the Soufrière Mountains in the Island of St Vincent, 1815, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), University of Liverpool

Edward Atkinson Hornel is considered one of the "Glasgow Boys" but for most of his life he was part of the artists’ colony in which picturesque Scottish location?

Brig o’Turk

Brigadoon

Kirkcudbright Other artists who were drawn to this charming harbourside town in Dumfries and Galloway included Jessie M King, Charles Oppenheimer and Scottish Colourists Samuel John Peploe and Francis Cadell. 

Image: Two Girls on a Beach, Edward Atkinson Hornel (1864-1933), University of Liverpool

Cockburnspath

This 16th-century Russian icon depicting St George and the dragon is painted in what medium?

Oil

Tempera Icons are one of the oldest forms of Christian art, dating back to the eighth century. They are traditionally painted on panel with a base coat of chalk-based gesso then coloured with tempera, a pigmented mixture including egg yolk. Gilding, metals and even jewels are often added. 

Image: St George and the Dragon, Russian School, University of Liverpool

Gouache

Pastel

The Sluggard is considered a major influence on the New Sculpture movement of the late 19th century. Who was the artist?

Frederic Leighton The Sluggard is said to have been inspired by Leighton’s Italian model, Guiseppe Valona, stretching and yawning after a lengthy spell holding a pose. 

Image: The Sluggard, 1890, Frederic Leighton (1830-96) and JW Singer & Sons, University of Liverpool

Alfred Gilbert

Albert Toft

Hamo Thornycroft

John James Audubon painted this magnificent specimen in 1826 for the illustrated ornithological book he is now most famous for. What type of bird is it?

Andean condor

American turkey Audubon painted the turkey for inclusion in his Birds of America. In 2010, a first edition set the record at auction for the most valuable book in the world. A copy is displayed in Liverpool Central Library.

 Image: American Turkey, 1826, John James Audubon (1785-1851), University of Liverpool

Kori bustard

Southern cassowary

This jaunty paddle steamer was named after William Huskisson, MP for Liverpool, who met a tragic end in 1830. He was the first person to die in an accident involving which new mode of transport?

Hot air balloon

Omnibus

Train The accident happened during the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world’s first inter-city line. Against advice, Huskisson got down from his carriage during a scheduled stop and was hit by a train being driven on another track. Image: 
The ‘William Huskisson', Samuel Walters (1811-82), University of Liverpool

Velocipede

Anna Ashton poses for Joseph Wright of Derby in the guise of a shepherdess. She is holding a particular type of straight staff. What is it called?

Soubrette

Salopette

Choupette

Houlette The staff is flat and broad at one end. It has been suggested that it was used to hurl soil or other missiles at sheep straying away from the flock to keep them in line. Choupette is the pampered puss that belonged to the late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. (You’ll find her on Instagram.)

 Image: Anna Ashton (Later Mrs Thomas Case), Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-97), University of Liverpool

Viscount Leverhulme was an industrialist, philanthropist and art collector who founded the Lady Lever Art Gallery. His displeased expression may be because his Lancashire summer retreat was burned down in 1913, purportedly by a member of which group?

Trade unionists

Suffragettes Preston-based suffragette Edith Rigby claimed to have set fire to the property in Rivington, near Bolton. Luckily nobody was hurt during the incident. A week before, she’d planted a bomb in the Liverpool Corn Exchange but, again, nobody was harmed. The Houghton Weavers, on the other hand, are an enduringly popular Lancastrian folk combo.

 Image: William Hesketh Lever (1851-1925), 1st Viscount Leverhulme, 1918, William Strang (1859-1921), University of Liverpool

Houghton Weavers

Free traders

You got…

More revision needed!

Must try harder!

Superb work, student!

Challenge your friends

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email

Submit answers