What's this painting's hidden secret? The great British art quiz

The McManus in Dundee. Still Life with a Lobster, Fruit, Silver and China Ware’, c.1660, Abraham van Beyeren (1620/1621-1690), Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council) Photograph: Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council)

This quiz is brought to you in collaboration with Art UK, the online home of 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 set by the McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum. The McManus is a multi-disciplinary museum with wide-ranging collections of art, social and natural history, archaeology, and world cultures. Its fine art, applied art and whaling industry collections are recognised as being of national significance by Museums Galleries Scotland. In March 2020, The McManus was named Scottish visitor attraction of the year.

You can see art from the McManus on Art UK here. Find out more on the McManus website here.

1. 

   The McManus was designed by the architect of many iconic UK buildings. These include the University of Glasgow, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London, and the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras station, London. Who is the architect?

   1. William Burges

   2. Alfred Waterhouse

   3. Sir George Gilbert Scott

   4. GE Street

2. 

   Created in 1818 by Alexander Carse, this is the earliest known painting of which sport?

   1. Shinty

   2. Rugby

   3. Gaelic football

   4. Football

3. 

   What is the hidden secret contained in this painting?

   1. A cypher with a secret message

   2. A statement about the owner’s wealth

   3. The lobster was plastic

   4. A tiny portrait

4. 

   Artist Alec Grieve painted this sunset in 1921. He was a founder member of which group?

   1. Tayport Artist Circle

   2. Dundee Art Society

   3. Creative Dundee

   4. Generator

5. 

   The McManus holds the largest collection of artworks by the Robert Scott Lauder group. Can you guess the title of this painting?

   1. The Angel of the Hearth

   2. The Little Housewife

   3. A Lonely Life

   4. Little to Earn and Many to Keep

6. 

   James McIntosh Patrick’s Tay Bridge from My Studio Window is the iconic image of Dundee. But what did the artist have to paint from memory?

   1. The steam train going over the Tay Rail Bridge

   2. The railings

   3. The horse and cart

   4. The boat

7. 

   The first two lines of this abstract painting were inspired by the phrasing of which text?

   1. The Lord’s Prayer

   2. Lady Madonna by the Beatles

   3. The Tempest by Shakespeare

   4. Contemporary British Art by Herbert Read

8. 

   John Duncan’s Celtic revival masterwork The Riders of the Sidhe, 1911, was inspired by early Italian Renaissance frieze painting and executed in tempera. Each rider carries a symbol. What does the tree of life symbolise?

   1. Wisdom

   2. Abundance

   3. Love

   4. Power

Solutions

1:C - Still housed in Gilbert Scott’s original building, the McManus celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2017. Originally called the Albert Institute and Victoria Galleries, it was the largest memorial to Prince Albert outside London. It was renamed in honour of a much-loved Lord Provost, has been voted Dundee’s best-loved building and is proud to have earned its local nickname – The People’s Museum. Image: The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum © The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery & Museum, 2:D - Alexander Carse (c 1770-1843) was famous for his incident-packed scenes of everyday life, influenced by Dutch genre painting. The Village Ba’ Game shows a game between the ‘uppies’ and the ‘doonies’ in Jedburgh in the Scottish borders. The aim was to get the ball from one end of the village to the other. A similar game is still played in Orkney on New Year’s Day. Image: The Village Ba’ Game’, 1818, Alexander Carse (c 1770-1843), Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council), 3:D - Perhaps the finest work by Abraham van Beyeren (1620/21-90) in a Scottish collection, this sumptuous still life is known as a banketjes or banquet piece. If you look carefully into the silver jug, you can just see a reflection of the artist at his easel. Image: Still Life with a Lobster, Fruit, Silver and China Ware, c 1660, Abraham van Beyeren (1620/1621-1690), Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council), 4:A - The Tayport Artist Circle was an exhibiting society formed in 1905 by artists David Foggie (1878-1948), Alec Grieve (1864-1933) and Frank Laing (1862-1907) in the coastal village of Tayport on the southern bank of the River Tay, opposite Dundee. Dundee Art Society held its first exhibition in 1893 and is one of the longest-running art societies in the UK; Creative Dundee run a popular Pecha Kucha Night and have supported Dundee’s creative community since 2008; Generator is an artist led collective and project space formed in Dundee in 1996. Image: Sunset on the Tay, 1921, Alec Grieve (1864-1933), Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council), 5:B - Hugh Cameron (1835-1918) was known for sentimental scenes often combining childhood and country life. Here the moral is clear – cleanliness is next to godliness. Image: The Little Housewife, 19th century, Hugh Cameron (1835-1918), Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council), 6:B - This painting shows the view south from the front of Patrick’s (1907-1998) home – the Shrubbery – across Magdalen Green. Patrick had to paint the railings from memory as they were removed as part of the war effort. Look for the artist’s son Andrew on his bicycle. The horse and cart belonged to Roy the fruit merchant. Its companion view north A City Garden, 1940, is on the Art UK website. Image: The Tay Bridge from My Studio Window, 1948, James McIntosh Patrick (1907-1998) © the artist’s estate/Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council). Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council), 7:A - Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004) used orange or black squares to denote the spaces in the phrasing of The Lord’s Prayer – thus "Our father, which art in heaven". This is one of a series of abstract works inspired by the sense of community she experienced attending church. Image: Orange, Black and Lilac Squares on Vermilion, 1968, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham (1912-2004) © by courtesy of the Barns-Graham Charitable Trust. Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council), 8:A - The Sidhe (Shee) were Celtic fairy folk who rode out to their sacred circle on Midsummer’s Eve. Duncan (1866-1945) wrote that the tree of life meant wisdom, the grail cup love, and the sword symbolised power. The armour and other items were inspired by real examples of ancient Celtic metalwork seen by Duncan in museum collections. This included the iron age Battersea shield in the British Museum. Image: The Riders of the Sidhe, 1911, John Duncan (1866-1945), Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Collection (Dundee City Council)

Scores

1. 6 and above.

   A triumph – have a slice of Dundee cake when you next get out ... whenever that may be.

2. 0 and above.

   Well at least you tried.

3. 3 and above.

   A pretty decent result – well done.