Unofficial practice for MTEL Visual Art (17): making art, art in context, criticism and other disciplines, each answer sourced.
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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or Pearson. Bank checked October 9, 2026.
A design for a round window arranges similar shapes around a central point. Which kind of balance does it use?J. Paul Getty Museum, Education: Principles of Design. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0001
A grade 3 art teacher is choosing supplies. Which does the CPSC Art and Craft Safety Guide say to avoid with children from pre-kindergarten through grade 6?U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Art and Craft Safety Guide. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0002
A kindergarten teacher plans a task that asks children to copy shapes. According to the MedlinePlus milestones for 5 years, which shape can a typical five-year-old copy?MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (National Library of Medicine), Developmental milestones record - 5 years. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0004
A painter builds up the highlights on a jewel so thickly that the marks of the palette knife stand out and catch the light. What is this technique called?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Impasto. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0002
Show all 40 questions (36 more)
Subarea I: Creating works of visual art, continued
A painter outlines the whole composition on the primed canvas before applying any paint. What is this planning stage called?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Underdrawing. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0003
A student mixes red paint with green paint, its complement on the color wheel. According to the Getty's sheet on the elements of art, what happens?J. Paul Getty Museum, Education: Elements of Art. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0001
A two-year-old covers a sheet of paper with loose marks. In Viktor Lowenfeld's theory of artistic development, which stage comes first?Wikipedia, "Viktor Lowenfeld". Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0004
Before carving a large stone figure, a sculptor makes a small model to see how the piece might look and to work out materials and approach. What is the model called?Tate, Art Terms: Maquette. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0003
In a drawing of a chair, a student shades the shapes of the gaps between the legs and the rungs. What is the area around and between objects called?J. Paul Getty Museum, Education: Elements of Art. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0001
In a storm scene a painter sets the masts of the ships and the rocks on the shore at a slant. What do diagonal lines convey in a composition?J. Paul Getty Museum, Education: Elements of Art (formal analysis page). Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0001
In which family of printmaking techniques is the image incised into the plate, so that the incised line holds the ink?Tate, Art Terms: Intaglio. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0002
On which fact does the printing process of lithography depend?Tate, Art Terms: Lithography. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0002
Viktor Lowenfeld's 1947 textbook Creative and Mental Growth described the characteristics of child art. What did Lowenfeld believe the art of children reflects?Wikipedia, "Viktor Lowenfeld". Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0004
Why does a painter working in buon fresco spread no more plaster than one day's painting will cover?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Fresco. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0002
Why does the CPSC Art and Craft Safety Guide treat children under 12 as more at risk than adults when they use art materials?U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Art and Craft Safety Guide. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0004
Subarea II: Visual art in context 10
Colossal stone heads sculpted from large basalt boulders, dating from at least 900 BCE, are a distinctive feature of which civilization?Wikipedia, "Olmec colossal heads". Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0006
Dada was formed in Zurich during the First World War. To what were its artists reacting?Tate, Art Terms: Dada. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0005
The Kingdom of Benin's royal palace, in present-day Nigeria, was adorned with metal plaques and sculptures. By which technique were they made?Wikipedia, "Benin Bronzes". Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0006
The moai are human figures, each carved from a single stone. Which people made them, and where?Wikipedia, "Moai". Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0006
Tate notes that the mural has been taken up by many political ideologies. Which advantage of the mural explains this?Tate, Art Terms: Mural. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0005
Tile work in many mosques is covered with interlaced patterns built from repeated squares and circles. Why is geometric pattern so prominent in Islamic ornament?Wikipedia, "Islamic geometric patterns". Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0006
What was the purpose of the Terracotta Army buried near the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang?Wikipedia, "Terracotta Army". Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0006
When trade with Japan resumed in the 1850s, which qualities of Japanese woodcut prints profoundly affected Western painting from impressionism on?Tate, Art Terms: Japonisme. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0005
Which feature does the National Gallery glossary name as the characteristic of Gothic architecture?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Gothic. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0006
Which movement is the name for the new forms of abstract art that American painters developed in the 1940s and 1950s, often marked by gestural brush-strokes and an impression of spontaneity?Tate, Art Terms: Abstract expressionism. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0006
Subarea III: Interpretation, analysis and evaluation 10
A critic writes only about the color, brushwork, line and composition of a painting and sets its story aside. Which critical position is this?Tate, Art Terms: Formalism. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0009
A painter shows a woman who stands for France, and another figure who stands for Glory. What are figures that personify abstract ideas called?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Allegory. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0007
A still life shows a book and musical instruments beside a lamp that has just been snuffed out. In a vanitas painting, what do objects like the lamp refer to?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Vanitas. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0007
The Bauhaus gave architecture, performing arts, design and applied arts as much weight as fine art. What was the aim behind this?Tate, Art Terms: Bauhaus. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0008
In the National Gallery glossary, what does "realism", as a general term of style, describe?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Realism. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0009
What did the Arts and Crafts movement, begun by William Morris in 1861, set out to do?Tate, Art Terms: Arts and Crafts. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0008
What function does an altarpiece usually serve in a Christian church?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Altarpiece. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0008
Which list gives the basic principles of art criticism as the MTEL Visual Art test objectives name them?Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure, Visual Art (17) test objectives, objective 0009. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0009
Which term refers to art that expresses subjective emotions and inner experiences rather than showing people or nature realistically?Tate, Art Terms: Expressionism. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0009
Which twentieth-century movement set out to explore the workings of the mind and asserted the power of the unconscious and of dreams?Tate, Art Terms: Surrealism. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0007
Subarea IV: Visual art and other disciplines 5
An art teacher and a geometry teacher plan a joint lesson on the system of linear perspective that Alberti described in 1435. In that system, what do receding parallel lines appear to do?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Linear perspective. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0011
Art nouveau was a style of architecture and design found internationally. With which movement in fine art did it run in parallel?Tate, Art Terms: Art nouveau. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0010
From the 17th century some artists plotted their compositions with a device in which a lens projected the scene outside onto a surface inside a darkened box, where it could be traced. What is the device?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Camera obscura. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0011
Georges Seurat based pointillism on color theory. What is the viewer's eye meant to do with the countless tiny dots of pure color?The National Gallery, London, Glossary: Pointillism. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0011
Works of performance art are created through actions carried out by the artist or other participants. To which events of the 1910s is performance in the visual arts often traced back?Tate, Art Terms: Performance art. Written to MTEL Visual Art (17), objective 0010
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test objectives of MTEL Visual Art, field 17, as the test information guide prints them on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure website (https://www.mtel.nesinc.com/Content/StudyGuide/MA_SG_OBJ_17.htm and https://www.mtel.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/MA017_TestPage.html, read 2026-10-09): 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-response items in 4 hours; multiple-choice subareas I Creating Works of Visual Art (37 to 39 questions, 30% of the score, objectives 0001 to 0004), II Visual Art in Context (24 to 26, 20%, objectives 0005 and 0006), III Interpretation, Analysis, and Evaluation of Art (24 to 26, 20%, objectives 0007 to 0009) and IV Visual Art and Other Disciplines (11 to 13, 10%, objectives 0010 and 0011), and the open-response subarea, 20%. This bank holds 15, 10, 10 and 5. Every fact was read on 2026-10-09 in the public page named under its question: the glossary of the National Gallery, London, the art terms of Tate, the education pages of the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Art and Craft Safety Guide of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, MedlinePlus, the test objectives and six Wikipedia articles. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
These 40 questions of our own make an MTEL Visual Art practice test, from the elements of art to criticism. It is unofficial and not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or Pearson.
Read the full guide
Subareas and weights
The test objectives give creating works of visual art 30% of the score, visual art in context 20%, interpretation, analysis and evaluation of art 20%, and visual art and other disciplines 10%. This bank holds 15, 10, 10 and 5 questions.
Timing
With online proctoring the 100 multiple-choice questions get 2 hours 15 minutes; exam mode asks 40 questions in 54 minutes, the same pace.
Sources
Definitions come from the glossary of the National Gallery, London, the art terms of Tate and the education pages of the J. Paul Getty Museum; safety questions from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
No question here shows an artwork, so also practice with real works in a museum's online collection.
The two open-response items are written, so they are not practiced here.
Questions and answers
How many questions are on the MTEL Visual Art test?
The test information guide lists 100 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-response items in 4 hours of testing time. The MTEL site notes that tests may include questions that do not count toward the score.
What is the passing score for MTEL Visual Art?
240, which the MTEL site calls the qualifying score. Multiple-choice questions make up 80% of the score and the two open-response items 20%. This page reports the number right, with no verdict.
Are there visual art MTEL study guides?
The MTEL site publishes a test information guide for Visual Art, with the objectives and sample questions, and a practice test. This page is separate: questions written for this site, each naming its objective and source.
What does the MTEL Visual Art test cover?
Eleven multiple-choice objectives: elements and principles, materials and processes, creative thinking, artistic development in children, art in history and culture, art of the world's regions, art as communication, the functions of art, criticism, and links to other art forms and school subjects.