We commonly speak of aesthetic judgments as subjective, and in the sho

Question

We commonly speak of aesthetic judgments as subjective, and in the short term they are, since critics often disagree about the value of a particular contemporary work of art. But over time, the subjective element disappears. When works of art have continued to delight audiences for centuries, as have the paintings of Michelangelo, the music of Bach, and the plays of Shakespeare, we can objectively call them great.

The statements above best support which of the following conclusions?

(A) When Michelangelo, Bach, and Shakespeare were alive, critics disagreed about the value of their work.
(B) The value of a contemporary work of art cannot be objectively measured.
(C) The reputation of a work of art often fluctuates greatly from one generation to the next.
(D) The mere fact that a work of art has endured for centuries does not establish its greatness.
(E) If critics agree about the value of a particular cotemporary work of art, then the work can objectively be called great.

KapTeacherEli · Accepted Answer

"we commonly speak of aesthetic judgments as subjective, and in the short term, they are" supports B.

A is unsupported. We know critics "often" disagree, but that doesn't necessarily apply to any of these particular artists.
C discusses reputation, which is out of the scope of aesthetic value; it also mentions fluctuation, out of scope once more.
D is out of the scope; we don't discuss works that have "endured" for centuries, only works that have "delighted" for centuries.
E is a distortion, and also a 180. The prompt tells us that works that have delighted for centuries can be called great; we know nothing about modern works except that they ARE subjective (as the quote above showed).

unraveled · Answer

We commonly speak of aesthetic judgments as subjective, and in the short term they are, since critics often disagree about the value of a particular contemporary work of art. But over time, the subjective element disappears. When works of art have continued to delight audiences for centuries, as have the paintings of Michelangelo, the music of Bach, and the plays of Shakespeare, we can objectively call them great.
The statements above best support which of the following conclusions?

(A) When Michelangelo, Bach, and Shakespeare were alive, critics disagreed about the value of their work. - Irrelevant.
(B) The value of a contemporary work of art cannot be objectively measured. - CORRECT.
(C) The reputation of a work of art often fluctuates greatly from one generation to the next. - Out of scope
(D) The mere fact that a work of art has endured for centuries does not establish its greatness. - Goes in opposite directions.
(E) If critics agree about the value of a particular cotemporary work of art, then the work can objectively be called great. - Out of scope.

Author initially is support of critics but for short term only. From there author changes his/her stand and by giving a reasoning goes against short term objective judgement.

IMO Answer B.

sargam0101 · Answer

how and where is the author showing his agreement to subjectivity. in first line, does ut talk about "subjectivity in only for a short term"? please explain i am unable to understand first 2 lines

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

Hi Sargam

The passage / author supports subjectivity in the very first sentence of the stimulus, wherein it is stated:

"We commonly speak of aesthetic judgments as subjective, and in the short term they are..."

Admittedly, this is a qualified support. The stimulus only supports subjectivity of aesthetic judgments in the short term. However, this is completely consistent with option (B), which also only talks about measuring the value of art in the short term.

Option (B):  The value of a contemporary work of art cannot be objectively measured.

If we are talking about the value of art in the "long term", then surely it cannot be "a contemporary work of art". Therefore, the first statement fully supports option (B), which is the correct answer.

Hope this helps.

zfu4820 · Answer

I was wrong at the first try. And then I reallized that I misundersand the passage, so undersanding the passage is the key to solve the CR question. 
the meaning of the passage is that aesthetic judgments is subjective in short term, .... and then will be disappeared over time, because critics are often disagree on the value of mordern art but agree on past art.

the premises is that in short term critics are often disagree on the value of the mordern art, but will agree on the art which has been made for centries. 
so the conclusion is close to answer B that the value of a contemporary work of art cannot be objectively measured

bronaugust · Answer

As a solver, the very first step is to understand what the examiner wants out of you. The examiner actually wants you to choose an answer option that is best supported by the given statements. Clearly, you are dealing with a conclusion question. Now that you have understood what the examiner's want is, you shall read and understand the statements. Let me list out the facts one by one. I shall also simultaneously draw inferences.

FACT #1  - In short term, aesthetic judgements are subjective.  Inference: They may not be subjective in the long term.

FACT #2:  These judgments are subjective because critics often disagree about the value of a particular contemporary work of art.

FACT #3:  Over time, the subjective element disappears.

FACT #4:  If works of art have continued to delight audiences for centuries, we can objectively call them great. ( Note that the names of the artists are given as examples.)     Inference: There must be a link between objectively calling a work of art great and the time it has continued to delight the audiences.

Since this is a conclusion question, it must 100 percent be validated by the facts and inferences drawn. Now, you shall eliminate the incorrect answer options - options that are not within the scope of the para or those that are way too extreme.

(A) When Michelangelo, Bach, and Shakespeare were alive, critics disagreed about the value of their work. -   TOO EXTREME  -  The para says that critics  often  disagree about a contemporary work of art but does not deal with the stated artists being alive or dead  -    ELIMINATE

(B) The value of a contemporary work of art cannot be objectively measured. -   MATCHES WITH FACT #1 & FACT #4 AND THE DRAWN INFERENCES   -  The value of a contemporary work of art can be subjectively measured and there is a link between objectiveness and the period of time that a work of art has continued to delight its audiences, meaning the value of any contemporary work of art cannot be objectively measured  -    KEEP

(C) The reputation of a work of art often fluctuates greatly from one generation to the next. -   OUT OF SCOPE  -   None of the facts deal with the reputation of any work of art   -   ELIMINATE

(D) The mere fact that a work of art has endured for centuries does not establish its greatness. -   TOO EXTREME    -    The author specifically links delighting audiences for centuries with objectively calling a piece of art great; therefore, it is too extreme and wrong based on the stated facts to arrive at the conclusion that just because a work of art has endured (what about delighting the audiences, by the way?) for centuries does not mean it is great -     ELIMINATE

(E) If critics agree about the value of a particular contemporary work of art, then the work can objectively be called great. -   OUT OF SCOPE/CONTRADICTS THE FACTS  -   Goes against FACT#1 & FACT #4   -   ELIMINATE

Hence, B is the right answer.

gullyboy09 · Answer

Hi  MartyMurray , can you please help me with the below question? If B is true, then in their time (Michelangelo, Bch and Shakespear) also, value of their art cannot be measured objectively, which makes A also true.

We commonly speak of aesthetic judgments as subjective, and in the short term they are, since critics often disagree about the value of a particular contemporary work of art. But over time, the subjective element disappears. When works of art have continued to delight audiences for centuries, as have the paintings of Michelangelo, the music of Bach, and the plays of Shakespeare, we can objectively call them great.

The statements above best support which of the following conclusions?

(A) When Michelangelo, Bach, and Shakespeare were alive, critics disagreed about the value of their work.
(B) The value of a contemporary work of art cannot be objectively measured.
(C) The reputation of a work of art often fluctuates greatly from one generation to the next.
(D) The mere fact that a work of art has endured for centuries does not establish its greatness.
(E) If critics agree about the value of a particular cotemporary work of art, then the work can objectively be called great.

guddo · Answer

We commonly speak of aesthetic judgments as subjective, and in the short term they are, since critics often disagree about the value of a particular contemporary work of art. But over time, the subjective element disappears. When works of art have continued to delight audiences for centuries, as have the paintings of Michelangelo, the music of Bach, and the plays of Shakespeare, we can objectively call them great.

The statements above best support which of the following conclusions?

The passage says aesthetic judgments may seem subjective at first because critics disagree about contemporary art. But if a work continues to please audiences for centuries, the passage says we can objectively call it great. So the argument links  objective greatness  to  lasting approval over a long period of time .

(A) When Michelangelo, Bach, and Shakespeare were alive, critics disagreed about the value of their work.

This is not supported. The passage says critics often disagree about contemporary works, but it does not say critics actually disagreed about Michelangelo, Bach, or Shakespeare during their lifetimes.

(B) The value of a contemporary work of art cannot be objectively measured.

This is best supported. The passage says contemporary judgments are subjective in the short term, and the objective element appears only over time, after a work has delighted audiences for centuries.

(C) The reputation of a work of art often fluctuates greatly from one generation to the next.

This is not supported. The passage discusses disagreement in the short term and endurance over centuries, but it does not say reputations often fluctuate greatly.

(D) The mere fact that a work of art has endured for centuries does not establish its greatness.

This goes against the passage. The passage says continued delight over centuries allows us to call a work great.

(E) If critics agree about the value of a particular contemporary work of art, then the work can objectively be called great.

This is not supported. The passage does not say present-day agreement is enough; it says objective greatness comes from long-term endurance.

Answer: (B)

We commonly speak of aesthetic judgments as subjective, and in the sho

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