Well-established artists usually sell their work through a

Question

Well-established artists usually sell their work through a gallery on an exclusive representation arrangement. Whenever an artist gets a contract for an exhibition in a public museum, his fee is negotiated by whatever gallery represents him. The gallery always demands fifty percent of the artist's fee, even though the exhibition will not be on their premises, will not require their services, and will not result in sales of works by the particular artist. This fifty percent fee is clearly a tariff that allows the galleries to use their stellar clients to make money for themselves. It is unfair to both the artist and the public.

Which of the following would be most useful for investigating the claim made above?

A. knowledge of the support and services offered by galleries to struggling and unknown artists
B. the cost of time spent by the gallery in making arrangements for the museum exhibitions
C. the length of time during which the artist's works are left on display in the museum
D. the amount of money the museum is willing to spend on advertising the exhibit
E. the actual dollar amount of the average artist's fee for having works displayed in a museum exhibition

dimri10 · Answer

it seems like the author sys that:
galleries do nothing for the sake of new artists that represent in museums. so the fee is not fair.
but if you find out that the gallery is spending time/money to arrange exhibitions=fair to take the fee.

kanigmat011 · Answer

HI Experts
 daagh   reto   WaterFlowsUp   VeritasPrepKarishma 
I kinda contradict with the OA as
"The gallery always demands fifty percent of the artist's fee, even though the exhibition will not be on their premises, will not require their services, and will not result in sales of works by the particular artist"

clearly mentions it doesn't make any arrangement or services

What is it that is missing in my reasoning

WillGetIt · Answer

Hello Kanigmat011,

I think you are missing following critical component of the argument:

Whenever an artist gets a contract for an exhibition in a  public museum , his fee is negotiated by whatever gallery represents him.

Basically this argument mention that as per the special arrangement:

ONE ARTIST: REPRESENTED BY ONE GALLERY 
 : CAN EXHIBIT HIS ART IN ANY OF THE MUSEUM

Moreover it is mentioned that:
 
- This fifty percent fee is clearly a tariff that allows the galleries to use their stellar clients to make money for themselves. It is unfair to both the artist and the public.

- Galleries only select stellar clients so that the galleries can make more money.

Conclusion: It is unfair to both the artist and the public.

So what reasoning could the above mentioned conclusion wrong, some reasons are as follows:

1. the cost of time spent by the gallery in making arrangements for the museum exhibitions (Answer Choice B)

2. There is a high legal fee that need to paid by galleries to facilitate the contract between artists and other museums

Lastly please note that there is subtle difference between a gallery (people can go to watch the art and probably buy also) and a museum (people can ONLY go to watch the art)

Hope it helps!!

"Please hit +1 kudos, if the explanation is helpful to you"

AryamaDuttaSaikia · Answer

Since the gallery represents the artist in the museum the gallery indirectly provides its services. Also the fee acts as a tariff that allows the galleries outstanding clients to make money for themselves. Hence even by depicting the chief qualities of the artist, which is what is implied by representation to the client the gallery is providing its service. This is an example of intangible service. Hence B is the correct choice.

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Konstantin1983 · Answer

May be i missed something but please help. Option C looks good too. If artist displays his work in public museum then his gallery has lost income that could be earned had artist's work been displayed in the gallery. Then amount of time matters.Or this is not assumed?

sayantanc2k · Answer

Knowing just the length of time would not help - the point is whether the cost incurred by the gallery is comparable to the 50% of the fee from the public museum. If option C stated the revenue lost by the gallery rather than the time the work was not available with the gallery, then it could be a correct option. Knowing only time does not help judge whether the 50% fee charged is justified - the monetary loss is important.

Konstantin1983 · Answer

Yes sayantanc2k you are right. We can't assume that work of art is displayed for a long time. This may be for 1-2 days

talismaaniac · Answer

And is D wrong because it uses the word willing? What is in place of  "museum is willing to spend"  we write  "museum spends" ?

gmat1393 · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Identify the Question Type:

This is an Evaluation question, asking what evidence, if provided, would help in "investigating" the argument. That means the correct answer will address the assumption. If the assumption is true, the argument is strong; if the assumption is false, the argument is weak.

Untangle the Stimulus:

The conclusion in the stimulus is that the gallery's 50% fee for getting artists into museum exhibitions is just self-serving and benefits neither the artist nor the public. The evidence is that the gallery has nothing to do with the exhibition itself.

Predict the Answer:

While the gallery is not directly involved with the museum exhibition itself, there may be other ways in which the gallery is earning its 50% fee. The author just assumes the gallery is adding no value. To investigate the author's claim, the correct answer must address whether or not the gallery is doing anything useful that could benefit the artist or the public.

Evaluate the Choices:

(B) correctly investigates the extent of a service provided by the gallery. If the gallery spends a great deal of time making arrangements for an exhibition, then the fee may be justified on that basis. If it does not, then the fee may be shown to be unjustified.

(A) discusses the gallery, but focuses on struggling and unknown artists, who are beyond the scope of the stimulus, which is concerned with “well-established artists”

(C) and (D) erroneously focus on the services provided by the museum, rather than the gallery. Presumably these services would be available without paying a fee to the gallery.

(E) focuses on the actual dollar amount, which does nothing to investigate whether the fee is unfair or not.

TAKEAWAY: When asked to investigate a claim, consider the argument as a whole and look for an answer choice that questions one of the author's central assumptions.

gvij2017 · Answer

Here gallery is playing role of middleman or broker or a type of person who give his intangible services to benefit both parties engaged in deal. So, middleman ask money for its time and verbal communication which make the deal done. 
B goes with this logic.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Well-established artists usually sell their work through a

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Well-established artists usually sell their work through a

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