We are trying to find the answer choice which most accurately describes the author's feelings towards Gray's artistic accomplishments.
Of note is that the entire passage speaks of Gray in a consistently positive tone. The correct answer choice must reflect this. Usually this will help us dismiss several answer choices which would be incorrectly neutral or negative, this question wasn't as kind to us.
Rather through process of elimination we can gather that answer choice A is correct because answer choices B-E, each contain information that contradicts the passage.
B) She was not on the periphery of the art world. C) How do we know that she remained faithful to Japanese architectural traditions? We only know about traditional lacquer. D) The author does not discuss Gray's career development. E) From this passage, we do not have any evidence that Gray revolutionized the field of structural design.
Answer choice A is the only one provided that does not contradict the passage. Appreciation of her work is supported throughout and the portion about being set apart from her contemporaries is supported in the first paragraph, where the author discusses how traditional lacquer was a little known craft in her time.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.