Cezanne's art inspired the next generation of artists

Question

Cezanne's art inspired the next generation of artists, twentieth-century modernist creators of abstract art. While most experts rank Cezanne as an early modernist, a small few reject this idea. Francoise Cachin, for example, bluntly states that such an ascription is "overplayed", and says that Cezanne's work is "too often observed from a modern point of view".

Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the information above?

C. Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism.

Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the information above?

A. Cezanne's work is highly controversial. 
B. Cezanne was an early creator of abstract art. 
C. Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism. 
D. Modern art owes less to Cezanne than many experts believe. 
E. Cezanne's work tends to be misinterpreted as modernist.

Source: LSAT

Bunuel · Accepted Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The correct answer choice is (C)

The final three problems in this section are harder than the previous five. This problem is answered correctly by about 45% of test takers and is classified as difficult (the hardest GMAT questions have success rates under 20%. Fortunately, questions this difficult appear infrequently). Students can miss questions for a variety of reasons:

1. The stimulus is difficult to understand. 
2. The question stem is difficult to classify (very rare) or confusing. 
3. The correct answer is deceptive, causing students to avoid it. 
4. One (or more) of the incorrect answers is attractive, drawing students to it.

Given that the stimulus is a simple fact set and that none of the incorrect answers attracted more than 15% of test takers, the difficulty in this problem apparently lies in the correct answer.

Answer choice (A): The controversy in the stimulus is about the categorization of Cézanne as an artist, not about Cézanne’s work. Further, even if the answer did correctly reference the categorization controversy, the answer would still be suspect because of the word “highly.” The stimulus indicates that only a small few reject the categorization of Cézanne as an early modernist and most experts accept it.

Answer choice (B): The stimulus asserts that Cézanne inspired the creators of abstract art, not that Cézanne himself created abstract art.

Answer choice (C): This correct answer is a paraphrase of the first sentence. The deceptiveness of this answer lies in two areas: 1. The substitution of “develop” for “inspire.” Some students feel the word “develop” is too strong, but if Cézanne inspired the creators of the next generation of art then he helped develop it. 2. The use of the word “modernism.” Some students are thrown off by “modernism” because they expect to see “abstract” instead. The stimulus is careful about saying “twentieth-century modernist creators of abstract art.” Notice how the test makers use answer choice (B)—which mentions “abstract”—to subtly prepare you to make this error.

Answer choice (D): The first sentence indicates that Cézanne inspired the modernist creators. The rest of the stimulus discusses a disagreement about the categorization of Cézanne that is not resolved in favor of either group. Hence, there is no way for us to determine if modern art owes less to Cézanne than many experts believe.

Answer choice (E): The word “tends” is the problem in this answer choice. Logically, “tends” means “most.” So, according to answer choice (E), Cézanne’s work is usually misinterpreted as modernist. The stimulus disagrees with this view: only a “small few” reject the categorization of Cézanne as a modernist whereas the majority accepts it. Further, the disagreement in the stimulus involves art experts, and from their view we would dispute answer choice (E). Answer choice (E) can also be understood as involving all interpretation of Cézanne’s work—whether by art expert or not—and from this perspective the answer is still unsupported since the views of others are not discussed in the stimulus.

chetan2u · Answer

With so many making error in this Q, I would try to explain

Cezanne's art inspired the next generation of artists, twentieth-century modernist creators of abstract art. While most experts rank Cezanne as an early modernist, a small few reject this idea. Francoise Cachin, for example, bluntly states that such an ascription is "overplayed", and says that Cezanne's work is "too often observed from a modern point of view".

Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the information above?

C. Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism.

Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the information above?

A. Cezanne's work is highly controversial. 
 It is mentioned as 'a small few ' reject, so HIGHLY is too extreme...NO

B. Cezanne was an early creator of abstract art. 
 he inspired them. Also the surety WAS is not 100%.....NO

C. Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism.
  There is no controversy on this point by the larger or smaller group.....YES

D. Modern art owes less to Cezanne than many experts believe. 
 Again nothing in para says it for sure.....NO

E. Cezanne's work tends to be misinterpreted as modernist.
  Nothing in para debates this point....NO

Source: LSAT

aaba · Answer

"develop modernism. " somehow connects with " twentieth-century modernist creators of abstract art". Can anybody explains the link to me, please?

kanthaliya · Answer

Hi Experts,

I am confused with this question. the option C says that Cezzane helped to develop modernisation, this is stated well in the first line also, but it is also said that his arts were observed with the modern outlook. So, doesnt these two statement contradict each other and will it be safe to go for choice C?

SonGoku · Answer

Hello guys,
 I was down to 2 options C and D
i chose D because i didn't understand it(Often i choose the wrong answer because of the time concerns)
Please explain the meaning of Option D
 nightblade354

nightblade354 · Answer

SonGoku ,

Reading this question, I too narrowed it down to (C) and (D). The difference is the wording.

Cezanne's art inspired the next generation of artists, twentieth-century modernist creators of abstract art. While most experts rank Cezanne as an early modernist, a small few reject this idea. Francoise Cachin, for example, bluntly states that such an ascription is "overplayed", and says that Cezanne's work is "too often observed from a modern point of view".

Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the information above?

C. Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism.

Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the information above?

C. Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism. --  It says in the first line that he helped inspire new artists of the next generation, which was modernism. This has to be our answer. 
 
D. Modern art owes less to Cezanne than many experts believe. --  This says "many". Many is defined as some, which can be anywhere between one and all. But, the issue is not the total, but the actual meaning. Even if his artwork is overplayed, does that mean he didn't help inspire? Does that mean we owe less to him? The question never supports this claim. All we are told is that some view his work in a different light. This doesn't take away from his impact or supposed impact.

Does this help?

SonGoku · Answer

Now i feel this D is not even a contender.Thanks  nightblade354 
one more clarification please:
I thought 
 Many : more than 50 percent.
 Some : 1 to n-1.
Thoughts please

nightblade354 · Answer

This is a common mistake. Many = some = 1 to all. The same goes for most. Most = greater than 50%, but can go all the way up to 100%.

SonGoku · Answer

Thanks for the much needed clarification  nightblade354 .
+1

adkikani · Answer

generis   VeritasKarishma   nightblade354   pikolo2510

Can you elaborate my understanding based on below PoE?

This is an inference question.

C's art inspired next gen of artists. These artists are twentieth-century modernist creators of abstract art.
There is a difference in how experts rank C as early modernist.
90% are in favor, whereas 10% are against it. (or) 
51% are in favor, whereas 49% are against it.
Furthermore, to strengthen above point, the author uses example of FC.
As per him, C's work is very often observed as modern art. Ideally it should be not.

Let me know if the above paraphrase is in sync with the argument.

Why is this incorrect because of approximate %tages I took above?
Do I need to look so closely to noun vs C's work to elimiate this?

Easy out-1, Subtle difference between inspiring x and creating x.

I crossed out this based on the below part from the argument:
 While most experts rank Cezanne as an early modernist, a small few reject this idea. 
Had I been told to identify main conclusion of the argument, this would be it.
I think I faltered to distinguish subtly between author's opinion and something that I 
need to infer (I always fall in to trap that an inference, much like an assumption, is never 
explicitly stated)

Invalid comparison between C and other artists, completely out of scope. Easy out-2

I selected this as my answer, since just as (C) I feel (E) is point which author wants to 
make. But how come C and E are opposite to each other?

I am too confused about A, C and E and want a better explanation than focussing on noun - C
and possessive pronoun C's work to perform PoE. Let me put subject of these three options together 
to understand how the verb is placed for all three:

C' art:

yes, can be infered because of huge %tage difference as explained in my paraphrasing.

yes, this is author's main opinion / claim

is not this overall tone of the argument? Though only a few reject C as a modernist
the fact remains that there are two views about C's work. How do I eliminate this with confidence?

Looking forward for your two cents.

generis · Answer

kanthaliya  , a belated reply . . . 
 
No. Sentence #3 does not contradict Sentence #1. In # 3, Cachin argues that Cezanne  himself  should not be classified as a modernist. Cezanne's WORK might have inspired modernists (#1), but CEZANNE was not a modernist (#3), claims Cachin.

Cachin says, "Cezanne's work is 'too often observed from a modern point of view.'" He means that modern people, steeped in their own time, are too eager to classify things as "modern."

It is safe to choose (C). I think you grasped the overarching logic (excellent!) and were ready to accept the option that captured that logic even though you had a small doubt.

The prompt consists of

Sentence 1 , factual background: Cezanne's art inspired later artists who are called "modernists"

Sentence 2 , opinion: Cezanne WAS an "early" modernist.

Opinion #1 takes Sentence #1 further. C not only "inspired" modernists -- C WAS a modernist

Sentence 3  opinion #2: Classifying Cezanne AS a modernist goes too far.

Opinion #2 does NOT want to take the first sentence further. The fact that Cezanne's art inspired modernists does not make Cezanne himself a modernist.

The two groups disagree about  how closely  Cezanne was connected to modernists; they do not quarrel about WHETHER Cezanne was connected to modernists.

To quarrel over degrees of connection is to accept that there IS a connection.

Simultaneously, we must notice that controversy exists.

Hence the most that we can conclude for sure is exactly what (C) says: Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism.

Answer (C) is "the most strongly supported" (conclusion) because

1) it requires no further assumptions

2) it is VERY close to what is stated explicitly in the first sentence (C is just a small step beyond the premises)

3) it "captures" or "covers" all of the premises

4) it is both supported by and a natural result of the premises.

I hope that helps.

KarishmaB · Answer

KarishmaB · Answer

We are looking for conclusion/inference in the question. 
The argument gives us premises which should be taken to be true.

- Cezanne's art inspired the next generation of artists, twentieth-century modernist creators of abstract art. 
- While most experts rank Cezanne as an early modernist, a small few reject this idea. 
- Francoise Cachin says that Cezanne's work is "too often observed from a modern point of view"

A. Cezanne's work is highly controversial.

The argument does not say that his work is "highly controversial". The controversy is whether he was an early modernist or not and most people believe that he was (making it less controversial)

B. Cezanne was an early creator of abstract art.

He may not have been a creator of abstract art. He may have just inspired others to create it.

C. Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism.

The argument mentions - - Cezanne's art inspired the next generation of artists, twentieth-century modernist creators of abstract art. Many consider him an early modernist so modernist creations were not common before him. So in any case, he did help develop modernism (by inspiring modernist creators).

D. Modern art owes less to Cezanne than many experts believe.

The argument does not imply this anywhere.

E. Cezanne's work tends to be misinterpreted as modernist.

Again, the argument does not imply this anywhere. Only some experts believe this.

Answer (C)

Kanika3agg · Answer

Cezanne's art inspired the next generation of artists, twentieth-century modernist creators of abstract art. While most experts rank Cezanne as an early modernist, a small few reject this idea. Francoise Cachin, for example, bluntly states that such an ascription is "overplayed", and says that Cezanne's work is "too often observed from a modern point of view".

Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the information above?

C. Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism.

Which one of the following statements is most strongly supported by the information above?

A. Cezanne's work is highly controversial. -  If taken from viewpoint of modern, was his work controversial or not? yes, there were some different viewpoints but not extreme to say highly controversial. 
B. Cezanne was an early creator of abstract art. -  He was an influence on next generation creators of modern art but did he really create abstract art. We cant be sure of that. 
C. Cezanne's work helped to develop modernism. -  from first statement, we can believe he had had some influence on the writers regardless his work was modernist or not. 
D. Modern art owes less to Cezanne than many experts believe. -  We cant infer this. 
E. Cezanne's work tends to be misinterpreted as modernist. -  Few believe this so this cant be a conclusion

VerbalBot · Answer

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Cezanne's art inspired the next generation of artists

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Cezanne's art inspired the next generation of artists

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