Written by Shanti Hastings-Kimball. Graphic by Ananya Panchall.
A first date can be very uncomfortable. What do you say once you get past the pleasantries and awkward silence starts to form? As an art student, normal questions are basic. Here are some art and artist-related fun facts you can use as icebreakers the next time a conversation dims to keep your dating life interesting.
1. The Mona Lisa has its own mailbox.
Located in the Louvre Museum, the Mona Lisa frequently receives love letters, poems and questions for the artist. All of these questions are archived by the staff.
2. Salvador Dali had a pet ocelot named Babou.
Babou was taken everywhere, even to high-profile events. She was always adorned with a bejeweled collar.
3. Annie Leibovitz took the last photo of John Lennon.
Two hours after taking an album cover picture for John Lennon; he was shot, making that the last professional picture of him.
4. Stanley Kubrick was a crazy cat man.
He would bring his seven cats into the editing room with him, where not many people could enter.
5. The children’s book Green Eggs and Ham was written to win a bet.
Writer Bennett Cerf, or Dr. Seuss bet that he couldn’t write a good children’s book with just 50 distinct words; the story contains 50 words exactly and Seuss won $50.
6. Bikinis are named after a nuclear testing ground.
Louis Réard named them after Bikini Atoll, a nuclear testing ground because he believed that his revealing design would cause an atomic and sensational reaction in fashion.
7. Pablo Picasso had 23 names.
His full birthname is Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso.
8. Art was an Olympic sport.
From 1912 to 1948, the Olympics awarded medals for Olympic themed art across a variety of mediums like painting, poetry and more.
9. The Wonder Woman creator also created the lie detector test.
William Moulton Marston pioneered the science behind the lie detector test and wrote Wonder Woman, her lasso of truth created as a nod to this creation.
10. Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built 532 buildings.
The famous architect built 532 structures before his death, his last project being the Guggenheim Museum. It opened just six months after his passing.
