Know your Manet from your Monet? Your Blake from your Brown? If you’re looking to host an epic arts and literature trivia night, we’re here to help. With a number of art enthusiasts and avid bookworms over here at Trivia Quiz Night HQ, we have delighted in putting together 100 of the best art and literature quiz questions and answers. We hope they’ll help you deliver the best virtual (or other) pub quiz for platforms like Zoom, Skype, House Party and more.
We’ve tried to sprinkle in questions from across the spectrum – easy, medium and particularly hard – so that you can challenge your contestants with specialist knowledge that might have them scratching their heads. We’d also suggest that you might want to take one of these rounds and deliver it as a Picture Round, using images to help jog their memories.
Ready to dive in? Let’s test their mettle with 100 of the ultimate art and literature trivia questions!
Easy Literature Quiz Questions
Now as these rounds get progressively more difficult, we thought we’d lull your friends and family into a false sense of security with these super easy literature quiz questions and answers:
1. On whom did Captain Ahab seek revenge?
2. Which best-selling author used the pseudonym Robert Galbraith when she decided to write a new genre of books?
3. What is the name of Ian Fleming’s first published James Bond novel?
4. A picture of which author, who created the character Huckleberry Finn, was the first image to be uploaded onto Wikipedia?
5. Which short novel by John Steinbeck revolves around the characters George Milton and Lennie Small?
6. The film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is based on a novel by Stephen King, but which American actress’ name was omitted from the title of the original novel?
7. Which book, significantly, sold its 3,141,592nd copy in February 2013?
8. Name 5 of the 10 best-selling authors in the UK in the first decade of this century
9. Which Bram Stoker book introduced a character played on film by Gerard Butler, Leslie Nielsen, Gary Oldman and Christopher Lee, amongst others?
10. Who was the best-selling fiction writer of 20th century?
Easy Literature Quiz Answers
- Moby Dick
- JK Rowling
- Casino Royale
- Mark Twain
- Of Mice and Men
- Rita Hayworth
- Life of Pi
- JK Rowling, Roger Hargreaves, Dan Brown, Jacqueline Wilson, Terry Pratchett, John Grisham, Richard Parsons, Danielle Steel, James Patterson and Enid Blyton
- Dracula
- Agatha Christie
Amazing stat: Agatha Christie is actually the greatest selling fiction writer of all time with her novels having sold over two billion copies!
Famous Autobiographies Quiz Questions
Think your contestants know a bit about famous people who’ve penned a memoir? Test that assumption with these ten fabulous questions about famous autobiographies:
1. Whose autobiography is Dreams From My Father?
2. Which actor’s book was titled I am Not Spock?
3. Bringing a rather painful image to mind, whose memoir is Losing My Virginity?
4. Only Fools and Stories is whose (second) autobiography?
5. Which footballer (soccer player) wrote It’s About A Ball?
6. Who had a Long Walk to Freedom?
7. Whose autobiography is titled I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings?
8. Whose memoir is Me: Moir?
9. Who wrote Trowel and Error?
10. It’s Not About The Bike was about whom?
Famous Autobiographies Quiz Round Answers
- Barack Obama
- Leonard Nimoy
- Richard Branson
- David Jason
- Alan Ball
- Nelson Mandela
- Maya Angelou
- Vic Reeves, whose real name is Jim Moir
- Alan Titchmarsh
- Lance Armstrong
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Classical Literature Quiz Questions
Need a few more questions related to art and literature? Yup, we’re here to deliver. It’s worth harking back to the classics, sorting their Shakespeare’s from their Salingers with these classic literature questions:
1. According to the Bible, what are the names of Adam and Eve’s children?
2. What is the name of Odysseus’s home island?
3. Charles Dickens’s Tale of Two Cities is sometimes cited as the best-selling novel of all time. What are the two cities?
4. The first line of which Daphne du Maurier novel reads “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”?
5. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” is the first line of which book?
6. Which book of the New Testament comes after the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?
7. Whose stories are Just So?
8. In which book by F. Scott Fitzgerald is the first line ‘In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.’?
9. In Desert Island Discs, which two books are the stranded automatically allowed to have?
10. Who is big and small and can talk to horses?
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Classical Literature Quiz Answers
- Cain, Abel and Seth
- Ithaca
- Paris and London
- Rebecca
- Pride and Prejudice
- Acts (of the Apostles)
- Rudyard Kipling
- The Great Gatsby
- The Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare
- Lemuel Gulliver in Gulliver’s Travels
Interesting fact: Swift was responsible for many creating many words used in the English language, and in Gulliver’s Travels, he coined the term Yahoo, now more famously associated with the internet giant.
Children’s Books Quiz Questions
Want your contestants to channel their inner child? Try out this round packed full of ten great children’s literature quiz questions and answers to test their memories!
1. What name are the following youngsters Tootles, Nibs, Slightly, Curtly and The Twins better known by?
2. Along with Charlie Bucket, name any of the four other golden ticket winning characters who tour Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
3. What is the Gruffalo afraid of?
4. According to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything is what?
5. Who is (eventually) identified by his red-and-white-striped shirt, bobble hat, and glasses?
6. In which series of books by Phillip Pullman are animal daemons a physical manifestation of a person’s inner self and (normally) have to remain close to them?
7. How old was Adrian Mole when he wrote his ‘Secret Diary’ according to the Sue Townsend book published in 1982?
8. Where do Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and the gang live?
9. Which Doctor was able to converse with animals?
10. Where is Paddington Bear from?
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Children’s Books Quiz Round Answers
- The Lost Boys (in Peter Pan)
- Mike Teavee, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde or Augustus Gloop
- A mouse
- 42
- [Where’s] Wally (UK) or [Where’s] Waldo (US)
- His Dark Materials
- Thirteen and three-quarters
- One Hundred Acre Wood
- Doctor Dolittle
- (Darkest) Peru
General Knowledge Literature Quiz Questions
Most of these are modern literature quiz questions and answers, and we hope they’re relatively easy to answer since that was the idea!
1. Which Dickens character has been portrayed by, amongst others, Roger Daltrey, Michael Caine, Kelsey Grammer, Albert Finney, and Patrick Stewart?
2. Who wrote The Day of the Triffids, The Chrysalids and The Kraken Wakes?
3. What is Sherlock Holmes’ older brother called?
4. The first line of whose poem reads ‘Tyger Tyger, burning bright’?
5. Professor McGonagall is the head of Harry Potter’s house, Gryffindor. What is her first name?
6. Which author also wrote the extraordinarily long running play The Mousetrap?
7. Who created the intelligence officer character George Smiley?
8. Which book by J.D. Salinger includes the character Holden Caulfield?
9. Which Agatha Christie character resided at St Mary Mead?
10. Which author spelt ‘Tortoise’ backwards?
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General Knowledge Literature Quiz Answers
- Scrooge
- John Wyndham
- Mycroft
- William Blake
- Minerva
- Agatha Christie
- John le Carre
- Catcher in the Rye
- Miss Marple
- Roald Dahl
No way! Roald Dahl fought in World War II, became a British spy in the US and worked on Ian Fleming’s James Bond – using his expereince to adapt You Only Live Twice into a screenplay. Mind officially blown.
Name the Author Quiz Questions
Do they know their Tolstoy from their Tolkien? Below you’ll find a great round focussing solely on authors. And, for this one, definitely considering some visuals!
1. What is the name of the author who created The Cat in the Hat?
2. The lead in Treasure Island, Jim Hawkins was the brainchild of who?
3. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull was created by which author?
4. The mischievous Bilbo Baggins who disappeared on his 111th birthday was created by who?
5. Name the author who penned the Tiger (who came to tea).
6. Bertie Wooster is a character by which writer?
7. To which author would you attribute Atticus Finch?
8. Hercule Poirot, the great Belgian detective was thought up by which famous author?
9. Napoleon, Squealer and Boxer are all animals, but who created them?
10. Which author is behind Tintin?
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Name the Author Quiz Round Answers
- Dr Seuss
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Richard Bach
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- Judith Kerr
- P.G. Wodehouse
- Harper Lee
- Agatha Christie
- George Orwell
- Herge
Classical Art Quiz Questions
Had enough of this English literary quiz? Let’s switch gears and head into the rich territory of art, starting off with ten great quiz questions and answers about the classics:
1. Which Parisian museum shows off the Mona Lisa?
2. The Card Players is a series of paintings by which French post-impressionist?
3. Which polymath designed St Paul’s Cathedral?
4. The Creation of Eve and The Great Flood are two of nine scenes on the ceiling of which Rome landmark?
5. Which artist cut off much of his own ear and later killed himself?
6. Complete the name of Johannes Vermeer 17th century painting: The Girl With a…?
7. Rene Magritte’s The Son of Man portrays a man in a suit and bowler hat with what fruit covering much of his face?
8. Who sculpted The Thinker?
9. Which artist was particularly fond of a water lily pond?
10. American Gothic is a Greg Wood painting of a woman and a man standing in front of a house. What is the man holding?
Classical Art Quiz Answers
- The Louvre
- Paul Cézanne
- Sir Christopher Wren
- The Sistine Chapel
- Vincent van Gogh
- Pearl Earring
- An apple
- Auguste Rodin
- Claude Monet
- A pitchfork
Interesting fact: The painting depicts a farmer standing next to not his wife (as is often assumed) but his daughter.
Modern Art Quiz Questions
We’re done with the classics, so let’s move on to more modern fare. Here are ten of the best about more modern forms of art.
1. Sitting opposite St Paul’s Cathedral in London is which modern art museum?
2. Which famous Parisian building holds France’s National Museum of Modern Art?
3. Which artist sold a twelve foot balloon dog for $58.4 million?
4. What happened to Banksy’s painting of Girl with a Balloon during an auction at Sotheby’s in London in October 2019?
5. Which brand of soup features did Andy Warhol’s paint?
6. Who made the Angel of the North in England?
7. Which of these is a work by English artist Tracey Emin – My Fridge, My Bed, My Sofa or My Television?
8. Whaam! was painted by which pop artist?
9. Which British artist is known for his use of formaldehyde and spots?
10. Which sculptor and broadcaster is also known for his cross-dressing and alter-ego ‘Claire’?
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Modern Art Quiz Round Answers
- The Tate Modern
- Pompidou Centre/Centre Georges Pompidou
- Jeff Koons
- It was shredded (it was a stunt rather than an accident)
- Campbell’s
- Anthony Gormley
- My Bed
- Roy Lichtenstein
- Damien Hirst
- Grayson Perry
Famous Art Quiz Questions
Probably the most difficult of the rounds yet we’ve dedicated these ten trivia questions to famous artworks. To help your participants, it might be worth including pictures on this round, to make it a set of visual art quiz questions and answers:
1. For what form of art is Barbara Hepworth known?
2. Which Yorkshire born artist made a Big Splash and later produced a lot of work on iPads?
3. What did Banksy name his 2015 pop-up exhibition based in Weston-Super-Mare?
4. Mole’s Breath, Downpipe, Elephant’s Breath and Plumett are all Farrow and Ball versions of which colour?
5. Which Dutch graphic artist was known for drawing impossible objects and visual paradoxes?
6. Name the location of a Tate gallery situated outside of London
7. Who painted The Scream?
8. Which Spanish artist famously had a ‘blue period’?
9. Edgar Degas is particularly known for his paintings and sculptures of what type of subject?
10. In 2006 No. 5, 1948 set a record for highest ever price of a painting at $140 million. Who was the artist?
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Famous Art Quiz Answers
- Sculpture
- David Hockney
- Dismaland
- Grey
- M.C. Escher
- St Ives or Liverpool
- Edvard Munch
- Pablo Picasso
- Ballet dancers
- Jackson Pollock
Interesting Fact: This recording setting sale was not surpassed until 2011 when the sale of Paul Cezane’s The Card Players went for an estimated $225million.
Famous Art Movements Quiz Questions
We wanted to finish up this epic art and literature quiz questions and answers guide with the hardest round: one dedicated entirely to different movements. It’s a little tricky to tell the different periods apart, so let’s see how your pub quiz participants do!
1. With what art period is René Magritte best known?
2. Vincent Van Gogh was a leader in which art period?
3. Which 19th century art movement is characterised by small, thin, and visible brush strokes and would include the work of Claude Monet?
4. Known for being part of the ‘Wild Beasts’, Henri Matisse was one of the leaders of which movement?
5. Which movement is Edgar Degas best associated with?
6. Salvador Dalí was a major figure with which art period?
7. With which art period would you most associate Paul Gaugin?
8. Édouard Manet is one of the great what painters?
9. What boxy name is given to the art movement founded by Pablo Picasso?
10. Andy Warhol is best known for his work in what movement?
Famous Art Movements Quiz Round Answers
- Surrealism
- Post-impressionism
- Impressionism
- Fauvism
- Impressionism
- Surrealism
- Post-impressionism
- Impressionist
- Cubism
- Pop
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Did we miss any key arts or literature questions off the list? We always hope to deliver an epic guide to the best out there but, if we fell short, do drop us a note in the comments below!
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These are very interesting questions