What did the subject of this sculpture do in the 1940s? The great British art quiz

A sculpture of the Jamaican performer Berto Pasuka by Benno Schotz, 1946. Photograph: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries/© the artist

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 come from Paisley Museum and Art Galleries. Managed by Renfrewshire Leisure, the museum houses one of the largest art collections in Scotland. The emphasis of the collection is on late 19th- and early20th-century Scottish artists. Recent contemporary acquisitions include work by artists John Byrne, Steven Campbell and Anya Gallaccio. The museum is undergoing redevelopment, and is due to reopen in 2022 or 2023.

You can see art from Paisley Museum and Art Galleries on Art UK here. Find out more on the museum website.

1. 

   The Paisley-born artist John Byrne was inspired to paint National Velvet (1975) after his first visit to the US in the company of which Scottish musician?

   1. Gerry Rafferty

   2. Rab Noakes

   3. Donovan Leitch

   4. Billy Connolly

2. 

   The Paisley radical Alexander Wilson emigrated to the US in 1794, where he became known as the 'father of American ornithology'. Charges were filed against Wilson in 1790 and again in 1792. Why did Wilson get into trouble?

   1. Drunk and disorderly behaviour

   2. Libel

   3. Arson

   4. Debt

3. 

   Joan Eardley became known for her paintings of the poverty-stricken children of Glasgow when she moved to the city in 1949. In which part of Glasgow did Eardley establish her studio?

   1. Govan

   2. Hillhead

   3. Townhead

   4. Cessnock

4. 

   ‘Glasgow Boy’ William Kennedy painted in the artists’ colony of Grez-sur-Loing in France before establishing his own in Cambuskenneth, Stirlingshire, around 1885, which is believed to be the location of this painting. Which other artist was also a member of the ‘Glasgow Boys’ and visited Kennedy at Cambuskenneth?

   1. John Duncan

   2. Stansmore Dean

   3. George Henry

   4. Joseph Morris Henderson

5. 

   The 19th-century artist James Elder Christie was an enthusiast of Scottish poetry and often illustrated the work of Robert Burns. He depicted Paisley poet Robert Tannahill in a moment of literary inspiration, although for which profession was Tannahill also known?

   1. Flesher

   2. Weaver

   3. Farmer

   4. Grocer

6. 

   Paisley-born John Wilson was elected to the chair of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He also wrote for Blackwood’s Edinburgh magazine under which alias?

   1. Christopher North

   2. Fiona MacLeod

   3. The Ettrick Shepherd

   4. AM Barnard

7. 

   Jamaican performer Berto Pasuka was sculpted by Benno Schotz, an Estonian-Scot, in 1946. In what artform was Pasuka engaged while in Glasgow?

   1. Dance

   2. Music

   3. Theatre

   4. Comedy

8. 

   Best known for his mythological paintings, the artist Joseph Noel Paton moved to Paisley in 1839. While providing illustrations for the Renfrewshire Annual, he worked as a head designer for a muslin sewing company. For which firm did Paton work?

   1. Walter Dick & Son

   2. David Thomson

   3. Robert Bisset

   4. Brown, Sharp & Co

Solutions

1:C - John Byrne’s childhood dream of visiting the US became a reality when in 1972 he made a film, An Old-Fashioned Picture Book, with Glasgow-born folk musician Donovan. Byrne (AKA Patrick) designed the cover of Donovan’s 1971 LP HMS Donovan. The skull jewellery and flayed eagle guitar in National Velvet symbolise Byrne’s disillusionment with the America he discovered. Image: National Velvet, 1975, John Byrne (b 1940) © John Byrne/DACS . Credit: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries , 2:B - Alexander Wilson was charged with libel regarding the 1790 satirical poem The Hollander against William Henry, a silk manufacturer from Paisley. During the court hearing Wilson was also accused of having caused  “discord between William Henry and his workers”. In the end he was charged with libel only. Wilson was incarcerated in 1792 and 1793 for another libellous poem and again in 1794 for distribution of radical propaganda. Image: Alexander Wilson (1766–1813), Poet and Ornithologist, J Cairns. Credit: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries , 3:C - Joan Eardley began to paint children as a subject when she moved to poverty-stricken Townhead, Glasgow in 1949. By living with the children of Townhead, Eardley was able to gain a realist understanding of her subjects. Her process of painting was collaborative and the street children were regular visitors to her studio and enjoyed being painted, seeking both entertainment and to entertain the artist herself. Image: Boy on Stool, Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley (1921–1963) © the Eardley estate/DACS. Photograph: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries , 4:C - The ‘Glasgow Boys’, as they called themselves, are recognised as a disparate group of young painters who predominantly worked in Scotland and kept studios in Glasgow. Disillusioned by Scottish academic painting, the ‘Boys’ found inspiration in the art of the Hague and Barbizon schools and in the work of the contemporary French realist artist Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884). In emulation of the Barbizon School, the group worked together in artists’ colonies. Image: Spring, William J Kennedy (1859–1918), Photograph: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries, 5:B - James Elder Christie was born in Fifeshire and moved to Paisley as a young child. He attended Paisley School of Design and the Royal Academy of Arts, London, from 1874. His oeuvre often features the work of Robert Burns and he was known as a raconteur of Scottish poetry. Christie maintained links with Paisley and he established the Paisley-Renfrewshire Society in London in about 1878. Image: Tannahill, James Elder Christie (1847–1914). Photograph: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries , 6:A - John Wilson was professor of moral philosophy at the University of Edinburgh from 1820-1851. He was an advocate, literary critic and author. The Scottish sculptor James Fillans (1808-1852) created a portrait bust of Wilson, also part of the Renfrewshire council collection. Image: Professor John Wilson, William Nicholson (1781–1844). Photograph: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries, 7:A - Benno Schotz modelled a bust of Pasuka when Les Ballets Nègres toured to Glasgow in 1946. Pasuka was co-founder (with Richie Riley) of Les Ballets Nègres, Britain’s first black dance company, which toured the UK and Europe in the 1940s and 50s. Image: Berto Pasuka (1911-1963), 1946, by Benno Schotz (1891–1984) © the artist. Photograph: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries , 8:D - Joseph Noel Paton left Dunfermline for Paisley c 1839-1842. He attended the Royal Academy in 1843. By 1847, Paton had submitted Christ Bearing His Cross for the competition to decorate the newly built Houses of Parliament. Thread tycoon Sir Peter Coats of J&P Coats purchased the painting and gifted it to Paisley Museum and Art Galleries. Image: Oskold and the Elle Maids, 1873–1874, Joseph Noel Paton (1821–1901). Photograph: Paisley Museum and Art Galleries

Scores

1. 6 and above.

   Pure dead brilliant!

2. 3 and above.

   Fair to middling!

3. 0 and above.

   Yer heid's mince!