Monica: The sculpture commissioned for our town plaza has been scorned

I see a lot of gap in the explanation of correct answer:
Basically question is asking, which is the one thing that would be rejected by both Monica and Hector

Option E says that the the "artistic merit" is the the centre piece of consideration in deciding to keep the statue in public or not.
However, both Monica and Hector are discussing on one point to keep the statue in public and that is "people liking it" and therefore artistic merit is not the central piece to decide

The way I read it is that which principle would Monica and Hector disagree (differ) about, not which of the principles they would both reject. Compare their conclusions below.

Monica would agree that artistic merit is the centre piece of consideration. She says that unpopularity of the work gives no reason for removing it, where "thus" and the conclusion is linked to the artistic merit of the sculpture.
the unpopularity of the work says nothing about its artistic merit and thus gives no reason for removing it.

Hector would disagree that artistic merit is the centre piece of consideration because he argues that it should be public opinion, where "thus" and the conclusion is linked to the public opinion of the sculpture.
Thus, if public opinion of this sculpture is what you say, then it certainly ought to be removed.

Hi Jazpants , pls lay your focus a bit more on "the unpopularity of the work says nothing about its artistic merit and thus gives no reason for removing it"
i.e. the unpopularity and hence the artistic merit. Also see that the unpopularity(people liking) is magically attached to "artistic merit" and then this attachment has been played around with in subsequent discusion. Clearly, "artistic merit" is not the central piece.
I hope this helps

I chose A. I still think that the bone of contention between Monica and Hector was whether public opinion should be a factor in the public display of arts or not. Monica basically says artistic merit should be the parameter, not the public opinion. Hector says the opposite. A fits very well.

Monica does believe that artistic merit is the central piece to why they should keep the statue though. And Hector thinks it is public opinion.

I think the critical issue is whether the art should be removed because of public opinion, and not whether public opinion affects the work’s artistic value; I think there are better answers.

Posted from my mobile device

Monica: The sculpture commissioned for our town plaza has been scorned by the public ever since it went up. But since the people in our town do not know very much about contemporary art, the unpopularity of the work says nothing about its artistic merit and thus gives no reason for removing it.

Hector: You may be right about what the sculpture’s popularity means about its artistic merit. However, a work of art that was commissioned for a public space ought to benefit the public, and popular opinion is ultimately the only way of determining what the public feels is to its benefit. Thus, if public opinion of this sculpture is what you say, then it certainly ought to be removed.

Monica’s and Hector’s statements commit them to disagreeing about which one of the following principles?

Here is my take on the question: POE

(A) Public opinion of a work of art is an important consideration in determining the work’s artistic merit. - Hector says public opinion is important to decide whether one should keep the art in the town plaza. but look what this choice says : public opinion is imp to determine the artistic merit. This is not where Hector and Monica disagree because of this line "You may be right about what the sculpture’s popularity means about its artistic merit"
(B) Works of art commissioned for public spaces ought at least to have sufficient artistic merit to benefit the public. - Again this is taking a part of monica`s argument and hector`s argument and mixing it up. Hector does not disagree with the artistic merit and Monica doesnt mention public benefit.
(C) The only reason for removing a work of art commissioned for a public space would be that the balance of public opinion is against the work. - Extreme. We can never know if it would be the only reason. there can be tons of others. Not to be confused with hector`s argument where he says "popular opinion is ultimately the only way of determining what the public feels is to its benefit". This DOES NOT mean he is saying that public opinion is the "only" reason to remove the art.
(D) The sculpture cannot benefit the public by remaining in the town plaza unless the sculpture has artistic merit. - same as B. Hector speaks about public benefit but doesnt say it has to have artistic merit. But here its just mixing the two things together
(E) In determining whether the sculpture should remain in the town plaza, the artistic merit of the sculpture should be central consideration. This is what Monica says and only she agrees to it. But Hector thinks artistic merit need not be considered whether good or bad and instead it should benefit the public. Correct answer

Monica: The sculpture commissioned for our town plaza has been scorned by the public ever since it went up. But since the people in our town do not know very much about contemporary art, the unpopularity of the work says nothing about its artistic merit and thus gives no reason for removing it.

Hector: You may be right about what the sculpture’s popularity means about its artistic merit. However, a work of art that was commissioned for a public space ought to benefit the public, and popular opinion is ultimately the only way of determining what the public feels is to its benefit. Thus, if public opinion of this sculpture is what you say, then it certainly ought to be removed.

Monica : unpopularity of the work say nothing about its artistic merit and thus gives no reason for removing it.
Hector : unpopularity provides a reason for the sculpture to be removed.

Monica’s and Hector’s statements commit them to disagreeing about which one of the following principles?


(A) Public opinion of a work of art is an important consideration in determining the work’s artistic merit.
-> Not true. Hector has mentioned that he agrees on "what sculpture’s popularity means about its artistic merit"

(B) Works of art commissioned for public spaces ought at least to have sufficient artistic merit to benefit the public.
-> We do not know.

(C) The only reason for removing a work of art commissioned for a public space would be that the balance of public opinion is against the work.
-> Although Hector agreed that it should be removed, he never mentioned that the public opinion is the only reason.

(D) The sculpture cannot benefit the public by remaining in the town plaza unless the sculpture has artistic merit.
-> Not true. Hector did not talk about artistic merit in asserting that the sculpture has to be removed.

(E) In determining whether the sculpture should remain in the town plaza, the artistic merit of the sculpture should be central consideration.
-> Correct. While Monica says the scuplture has to remain because of it's artists merit, Hector asserted that public opinion should be the central consideration.

Agree: Work of art in public space --- >popularity -- > merit ( agree) ..(Statement 1)
Disagreement Chain of reasoning: Work of art in public space --- > benefit -- >only public opinion --- > keep or remove..(Statement 2)

Point to carry forward about disagreement: Keep or remove ? – based on public opinion (find this in options)

A. Both Agree
B. not talked
C. but is it only option? Not sure, keep on hold
D. Not discussed
E. artistic merit== popularity from (statement 1).
Sculpture should remain depends on popularity (artist merit)
Select E

Reject C strongly:
Monica wants to keep it inspite of this work art is against the public opinion.
Hector wants it to remove because this work is against the public opinion

So we can reject C confidentially.

Yeah this one is a tricky question you have nailed it on this one bunuel , now with the fa/cts at matter we have to see what are the main points presented to us by the argument are that artists merit , publics benefit , the onlt thing the M and S have the difference in opinion only in the artists merit and it's contribution to the public only option that stands out iis E hence the answer in my opinion

Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.