Vandenburg: This art museum is not adhering to its purpose

Question

Vandenburg: This art museum is not adhering to its purpose. Its founders intended it to devote as much attention to contemporary art as to the art of earlier periods, but its collection of contemporary art is far smaller than its other collections.

Simpson: The relatively small size of the museum’s contemporary art collection is appropriate. It’s an art museum, not an ethnographic museum designed to collect every style of every period. Its contemporary art collection is small because its curators believe that there is little high-quality contemporary art.

Which one of the following principles, if valid, most helps to justify the reasoning in Simpson’s response to Vandenburg?

(A) An art museum should collect only works that its curators consider to be of high artistic quality.

(B) An art museum should not collect any works that violate the purpose defined by the museum’s founders.

(C) An art museum’s purpose need not be to collect every style of every period.

(D) An ethnographic museum’s purpose should be defined according to its curators’ beliefs.

(E) The intentions of an art museum’s curators should not determine what is collected by that museum.

riri3026 · Answer

Is A not very narrow? 
An art museum should collect only works that its curators consider to be of high artistic quality.

My first thought was that that would require that the other art in the museum to be of high quality & we have no indication of that.

Can someone help me out? What’s the source?

Posted from my mobile device

riri3026 · Answer

Hi Experts,

Could you please help me out with this? Thank you!

tgmat24 · Answer

Hi Experts please help here.
 KarishmaB 
 GMATNinja 
 egmat

A_Nishith · Answer

Argument Breakdown: 
 Vandenburg's Argument:  The museum is not fulfilling its founders' purpose because its contemporary art collection is much smaller compared to its other collections.

Simpson's Response:  The small size of the contemporary art collection is justified because the museum’s curators believe there is little high-quality contemporary art.

Simpson’s Logic: 
Simpson justifies the small size of the contemporary art collection by suggesting that only high-quality art should be collected, and the lack of high-quality contemporary art explains the smaller collection.

Question:
Which principle, if valid, supports Simpson’s reasoning?

Option Analysis:
(A) An art museum should collect only works that its curators consider to be of high artistic quality.
 This principle directly aligns with Simpson's reasoning. Simpson argues that the small size of the contemporary art collection is due to the curators' belief that there is little high-quality contemporary art. This principle justifies curators limiting the collection to high-quality works, even if it results in smaller collections for certain periods.

Strongly supports Simpson’s argument by justifying that only high-quality works should be collected, regardless of period.

(B) An art museum should not collect any works that violate the purpose defined by the museum’s founders.
This option seems to support Vandenburg's point more than Simpson’s. Vandenburg argues that the museum is not following its founders’ purpose, while Simpson focuses on quality rather than strict adherence to the founders' vision. This principle does not justify Simpson's reasoning.

Not helpful for Simpson’s defense.

(C) An art museum’s purpose need not be to collect every style of every period.
While this option may seem relevant, Simpson is not arguing that the museum should avoid collecting every style of every period. Instead, he argues that the museum should focus on quality. This principle would be relevant if the debate were about diversity of styles, but it doesn't address Simpson's emphasis on high quality.

Not the best option, as it sidesteps the focus on quality.

(D) An ethnographic museum’s purpose should be defined according to its curators’ beliefs.
This principle is irrelevant because the argument is about an art museum, not an ethnographic museum. The comparison to an ethnographic museum was merely used by Simpson to differentiate the roles of different museums, but this option doesn’t address the core issue of how art should be selected.

Irrelevant to the argument.

(E) The intentions of an art museum’s curators should not determine what is collected by that museum.
This option contradicts Simpson's reasoning. Simpson is defending the curators' choices based on their beliefs about quality. If the curators' intentions should not determine the collection, it would undermine Simpson’s argument rather than support it.

Weakens Simpson’s argument and therefore, not a valid justification.
 Correct Answer: A

VerbalBot · Answer

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Vandenburg: This art museum is not adhering to its purpose

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Vandenburg: This art museum is not adhering to its purpose

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