Art historian: Unlike many artistic traditions that sought to depict p

Question

Art historian: Unlike many artistic traditions that sought to depict plants native to the local area in a seasonally appropriate way (for example, depicting scenes of spring with the plants in the appropriate stages of development for that season), seventeenth-century Dutch artists specializing in flower paintings almost exclusively chose to depict exotic species of flowers from outside the local area. Painting such species was worthwhile primarily because the art-buying public had developed a strong preference for images of the exotic. The great botanical centers of the time gave the artists direct access to such flowers, which the artists would freely combine in a single painting, regardless of whether the combined species occurred together in the wild, and depicted each in full bloom, regardless of whether those species bloomed at the same time in nature.

Statement: The art historian makes the point that the species of flowers these Dutch artists chose to paint were __1__ largely because the species were __2__

Select for  1  and for  2  the options that complete the statement so that it is most strongly supported by the information provided. Make only two selections, one in each column.

GMATCoachBen · Accepted Answer

Short video solution here (2:47):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsAu1ZlBkls

This problem highlights a key habit for Two-Part Analysis Verbal, especially "Complete the Statement" questions: check whether we are looking for a specific  relationship  between the two answer choices, rather than answering each choice separately. Here, the relationship is __1__ BECAUSE __2__.

tdew · Answer

IMO,

"Painting such species was  worthwhile  primarily  because  the art-buying public had developed a strong preference for images of the  exotic ".

Compare these two options.

1. they were   worth painting   largely because they were   exotic.  
 2. they were    exotic    largely because they were    worth painting   .

For option 2, how could flower species be exotic because they were worth painting? That doesn't make sense, does it?

It's clear that these flowers were worth painting because they were unusual and couldn't be seen in daily life.

fcyildirim · Answer

Hi, I'm having trouble to understand the correct answer also. Can anyone explain why is not 1) exotic 2) worth paying ?. Also, since the historian states that "the great botanical centers of the time gave the artists direct  access  to such flowers," the answer could be 1)exotic 2) accesible. Can someone explain why these choices are not correct?

annguyen02 · Answer

Also fell for the trap so here is my 2 cents after trying to understand.

It follows: the art-buying public had developed a strong preference for images of the exotic ---(explicitly stated with the word because)---> painting such species was worthwhile ---(implicitly in my mind)---> artist chose to paint exotic flowers

So when I got to the statement, I chose exotic -> worth painting based on my thinking process. I don't think it was wrong in the real world, but given the question stem said " most strongly supported by the information provided " -> what I interpreted in my mind was not as strong as what was clearly stated in the passage.

Khushe · Answer

GMATCoachBen

Hi Ben, I understand that the options "worth painting" and "exotic" fit the blanks, but I am having a hard time discarding options "1 - accessible" and "2 - exotic" when considering the entire passage. Could you please help me understand the same?

Bunuel · Answer

The art historian states that painting these species was "worthwhile primarily because the art-buying public had developed a strong preference for images of the exotic." This directly supports the statement that the species were  worth painting  largely because they were  exotic .

1. worth painting
2. exotic

Why not 1 = accessible, 2 = exotic:

The passage mentions that botanical centers made the flowers "accessible," but this is not the point the historian makes about  why the artists chose them . The historian is clear that the  primary reason  for the choice was their exotic nature, which made them "worth painting." "Accessible" describes how they obtained the flowers, not why they selected them in the first place. Therefore, "accessible" does not correctly complete the statement about the historian's main point.

Art historian: Unlike many artistic traditions that sought to depict p

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1	2
		native to the local area
		seasonally appropriate
		exotic
		accessible
		worth painting

GMAT Two-part Analysis (TPA) Questions

Art historian: Unlike many artistic traditions that sought to depict p

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards