The author would most likely regard a book on the Impressionists that focused entirely on their style as

ankita96 on August 16, 2020

Ans Choice D

Hi, Could You tell me why E is write. The last line of the paragraph states that no art historian can ignore one over the other. Should that not account for both style and the subject.? Or did I understand the passage wrong? Thanks in advance!

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shunhe on August 17, 2020

Hi @ankita96,

Thanks for the question! I think you’re looking exactly at the right part of the passage, but that’s actually what supports (E)! Remember, the question is asking us about what the author would probably think about a book on the Impressionists that focused entirely on their style. Well, let’s take a look at the last sentence, which tells us that “their paintings in effect have two levels of ‘subject’: what is represented [subject matter] and how it is represented [style], and no art historian can afford to emphasize one at the expense of the other.” Well, that means that art historians should focus on both! So if a book only focused on style, and not on subject matter, then it wouldn’t include everything that should be covered, or it would address only part of what an adequate treatment would cover. This is what (E) tells us, which makes it the correct answer.

(D), on the other hand, goes further than (E). (D) says that doing so would be neglecting the most innovative aspects of Impressionism. For this to be true, we need to be told somewhere that the subject matter (which is what’s being neglected) is the most innovative aspect of Impressionism. But we’re never told anything about the most innovative aspect, so (D) is wrong for that reason.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.

ankita96 on August 19, 2020

Thanks a lot, this was helpful!