The artist had drawn a beautiful portrait of
herself and her husband, whom was standing beside her, smiling at the camera.
A. herself and her husband, whom was
B. herself and her husband, who was
C. herself and her husband, he was
D. herself and husband; he were
E. herself and her husband, standing and smiling at the camera
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Understanding the intended meaning of the sentence is crucial to solve it. Artist had drawn a portrait of herself and portrait of her husband, but still we are not sure about the whole true intended meaning until we find the best choice. Let's proceed with process of elimination.
A - use of ''whom'' may refer to ''portrait of her husband'', but can portrait stand smiling at the camera . Lets keep A.
B - ''who was'' seems to refer to ''her husband'', but it can't since there is ''portrait of '' in the beginning. We can keep it to compare with others.
C - 2 independent clauses cant be separated just by a comma in gmat. C is out
The artist had drawn a beautiful portrait of herself and her husband - 1st sentence
He was standing beside her, smiling at the camera -2nd sentence
D - He were is not correct in this context. D is out.
E - ''standing and smiling at the camera'' modifies the action (verb -had drawn) of the sentence. Lets keep this one too.
Among A, B, and E. We can drop B because of abovementioned reason.
Between A and E. It is difficult to choose as the answer choice E also includes the same phrase twice. (smiling at the camera)
Anyways, E gives more logical meaning than A does, because (in E ) the author can stand and smile (2 actions) , but (in A) can portrait smile? it is the main question.
I would go for E.
E is our winner.
Hope it helps.