# Modern Artist or Toddler? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 28, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192 "2014-04-28T15:41:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/1 "2014-04-28T15:41:20Z")
Great quiz on sporcle - [Toddler Art or Modern Art](http://www.sporcle.com/games/bam_thwok/toddler-art-or-modern-art1). I got 11/20 correct, so my uneducated choices came out the same as pure guesswork. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/2 "2014-04-28T16:13:25Z")
14/20 ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/3 "2014-04-28T16:16:34Z")
I got 15 out of 20, but I screwed up the first few being unable to figure out how voting worked. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/4 "2014-04-28T17:13:30Z")
13/20. I erred mostly in thinking things were professional that weren’t. This might be easier seeing pieces in person, where you could determine something about the techniques used. And some, of course, were really easy: No toddler is going to be writing the names of Trojan War heroes all over his piece. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/5 "2014-04-28T17:19:26Z")
19/20, but I’ve appraised this stuff for 14 years. I despise de Kooning and Twombly’s work myself. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/6 "2014-04-28T17:30:42Z")
17 out of 20. And there was one I meant to write Modern but I hit T instead. ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/7 "2014-04-28T21:47:29Z")
11/20, but i have little background in art and little interest in abstract art. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/8 "2014-04-28T21:48:38Z")
Why can’t it be both, like the late Earl Warren? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/9 "2014-04-29T00:03:21Z")
I got 12/20. I actually liked a lot of the toddler work better. Nice balanced use of color. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/10 "2014-04-29T00:34:06Z")
7 out of 20 I got a string of 12 wrong in a row. That should earn a prize. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/11 "2014-04-29T05:26:38Z")
I think I remember “A Tree in Naples” from a previous thread like this one. I think it’s quite impressive, and not in an “if you’ve studied art history” sort of way. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/12 "2014-04-29T05:37:35Z")
17/20. I mostly just looked for finger marks. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/13 "2014-04-29T10:26:11Z")
15/20 Another tip was to look for colors/complex colors that are not generally found in kids’ paint kits. Only a couple of “toddler art” had “adult” colors. Also, weird shapes and shading. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/14 "2014-04-29T10:52:18Z")
13/20, but (a) plenty of those were guesses, and (b) my favorite was by a toddler. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/15 "2014-04-29T11:04:16Z")
I got 8/8 on my first try. My dog jumped on the power supply and shut off the monitor twice in a row, so I didn’t have time to finish. Since I hadn’t gotten any wrong so far, I just went ahead and took it again. 16/20. I had a pretty even mixture on what I got wrong. Toddler things would look too good, and modern art would look like something a toddler could have made. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/16 "2014-04-29T11:44:37Z")
False dichotomy. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/17 "2014-04-29T12:06:50Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > 15/20 Another tip was to look for colors/complex colors that are not generally found in kids’ paint kits. Only a couple of “toddler art” had “adult” colors. Also, weird shapes and shading. Also, oils. Few toddlers work in oils. I got 15 out of 20. I worked in a preschool, and I will say that the toddler works chosen were unusual in using the whole page (“canvas,” whatever). Toddlers tend to leave a lot of the paper untouched. Or maybe this is why we didn’t see the whole canvas. Plus, I actually did recognize a couple of the modern art paintings. ---
**Author:** ![DeweyDecibel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DeweyDecibel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeweyDecibel)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/18 "2014-04-29T16:13:45Z")
15/20 I like modern art, but was only familiar with a few of the specific works in the quiz. Entertainingly, several of my errors were mistaking Twombly for a toddler. Apparently, I really don’t appreciate his work. He’s never been my favorite, but I also haven’t given him much thought. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/19 "2014-04-29T16:47:07Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I got 12/20. I actually liked a lot of the toddler work better. Nice balanced use of color. 11/20. This is how I got quite a few wrong. I’d look at a painting, it would seem pleasant and I’d go, ok, must be art. Nope. Toddler. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192/20 "2014-04-29T16:59:03Z")
17/20. I don’t recognize any of the works from having seen them before (although some styles I recognized.) There were a couple toddler ones that I thought looked impressive, and one modern one that particularly looked like garbage. Number 8 in particular I found surprising to be a toddler. I wonder if these are selective crops of the toddler work. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-artist-or-toddler/687192.md?page=2)