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Subjects · Leaving Cert Art

Leaving Cert Art: Art as social commentary

How often Art as social commentary comes up on the Art papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 1 of the last 3 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2023.

OL Asked on 1 of the last 3 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2023.

Art as social commentary, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Art as social commentary.

(a)Picasso's Guernica (1937) responded to?
  1. The trenches of the First World War in France
  2. The bombing of a Basque town in the Spanish Civil War
  3. The bombing of London during the Second World War
(b)German artist Käthe Kollwitz used prints and sculpture mainly to show?
  1. Pure geometric harmony and abstract form
  2. The luxury of aristocratic life in Berlin
  3. The suffering of the poor and of mothers in war
(c)Banksy usually makes his street works using?
  1. Stencils and spray paint
  2. Oil glazes on canvas
  3. Mosaic tiles and grout
Show the answers

(a) The bombing of a Basque town in the Spanish Civil War

(b) The suffering of the poor and of mothers in war

(c) Stencils and spray paint

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Art as social commentary.

Higher Level

Asked on 1 of the last 3 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2023.

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Not asked
2024Not asked
2023Q3

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Art as social commentary questions

Art as social commentary, 2 marks

Kara Walker's large black cut-paper silhouettes deal mainly with?

  1. Dutch flower markets and still-life painting
  2. Space travel and the Moon landings
  3. Slavery and racism in American history
Show the answer

Slavery and racism in American history

Walker uses the elegant 18th-century silhouette to stage brutal scenes, so the viewer is drawn in by beauty and then confronted by violence and stereotype.

Art as social commentary, 3 marks

Géricault's The Raft of the Medusa (1818–19) exposed?

  1. The coronation of a new French king
  2. The abandonment of shipwreck survivors
  3. A great French victory in a naval battle
Show the answer

The abandonment of shipwreck survivors

The French navy frigate was wrecked under a captain appointed for political reasons, and many crew were left to die on a raft. The huge canvas became a scandal.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 1 of the last 3 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2023.

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Not asked
2024Not asked
2023Q3

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Art as social commentary questions

Art as social commentary, 2 marks

Picasso painted Guernica (1937) in response to what event?

  1. The sinking of the Titanic in the North Atlantic
  2. A great flood that swept through Paris
  3. The bombing of a Basque town in the Spanish Civil War
Show the answer

The bombing of a Basque town in the Spanish Civil War

German and Italian planes supporting Franco bombed Guernica in April 1937. Picasso's huge painting became one of the best-known anti-war images ever made.

Art as social commentary, 3 marks

Guernica is painted only in black, white and greys. What effect does this have?

  1. It shows the scene at a sunny midday
  2. A bleak, newspaper-photo feel suiting the tragedy
  3. It makes the scene feel cheerful and bright
Show the answer

A bleak, newspaper-photo feel suiting the tragedy

Without colour the work looks like a news photograph and feels cold and mournful. Stark tonal contrast adds to the panic of the screaming figures and animals.

Art as social commentary, 2 marks

Käthe Kollwitz is known for prints and drawings showing what?

  1. The suffering of the poor, war and grief
  2. Sunny seaside holidays and beaches
  3. Portraits of kings, queens and nobles
Show the answer

The suffering of the poor, war and grief

Kollwitz (German, 1867–1945) lost her son in the First World War. Her powerful black-and-white prints speak for mothers, workers and victims of war.

Other Art topics

All of Leaving Cert Art