Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created during a period in the

In option B, exceeding illogically modifies the 'Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s'--> this shows as if the Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created intentionally to exceed his depictions of any other still life object

Hope this helps

As Snehaaaaa notes, (B) has an illogical modifier, the same problem that shows up in option (A) in the official version of this question.

And for a brief discussion about how the GMAT sometimes allows non-possessive pronouns to refer to possessive antecedents, check out our post here, and let us know if you still have questions.

A-starts n ended not parallel
B-corect
C-same as A
D-incorrectly modify sunflowers
E-samr error as D

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Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding his depictions of any other still life object.


A. sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, that starts a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ended after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding
I believe that exceeding modifies hospitalized?

B. sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding
Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers exceeding his depictions of any other still life object.
exceeding is not a working verb. No verb in this clause. Not a main clause

C. sunflowers, created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and that ends after he was hospitalized in Arles and exceeding
Starting X...and that ends isn't parallel
starting...and that ends...and exceeding. The created is meant to modify Van Gogh's paintings, but the sentence never returns to this clause. It is left dangling at the front with nothing continuing it on

D. sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, and exceeding
The which-clause is a non-essential modifier offset with commas.
Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers...and exceeding his depictions of any other still life object.
sunflowers...and. Why the and?
Exceeding is not a working verb (present participle??). Thus, this is not a main clause.

E. sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceed
The which-clause is a non-essential modifier offset with commas.
Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers...exceed his depictions of any other still life object. Subject = Van Gogh's paintings, verb=exceed. This is a full main clause.
E

Isn't the use of "he" wrong altogether with the possesives? And if we do ignore that error, since "he" is present in all the options, what is specifically wrong with B?

Explanation-
A. sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, that starts a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ended after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding- comma+that is a wrong construction, starts and ended are not parallel, exceeding incorrectly seems to modify the preceding clause and that makes no sense

B. sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s, starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceeding- exceeding illogically modifies the 'Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created during a period in the late 1880s'--> this shows as if the Van Gogh's paintings of sunflowers were created intentionally to exceed his depictions of any other still life object

C. sunflowers, created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and that ends after he was hospitalized in Arles and exceeding- no Verb

D sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother, ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, and exceeding- no Verb

E sunflowers, which were created during a period in the late 1880s starting a year after he arrived in Paris to stay with his brother and ending after he was hospitalized in Arles, exceed- all issues are resolved. This is the correct answer.