Which one of the following, if true, would most challenge the author's characterization of Lichtenstein?

jingjingxiao11111@gmail.com on February 11, 2022

Please refer to this line reference.

Lichtenstein's work was . part of a general rebellion against the fading emotional . power of abstract expressionism, rather than an aloof (30) attempt to ignore it.

I am not an instructor but I will try to help. The above line reference states that Lichtenstein’s work was “part of a general rebellion against the fading emotional power of abstract expressionism”, which changed from “powerful early abstract expressionist work of the late 1940s” to a “second generation of abstract expressionists whose work seemed airy,high-minded, and overly lyrical” (thus the second generation of abstract expressionism during Lichtenstein’s time is considered non-emotional). Therefore, we can conclude that Lichtenstein’s work is emotional.

D) states that Lichtenstein criticized a pop artist for paintings that are emotional. If D) were true, this would weaken Lichtenstein’s determination to produce emotional work to combat “the fading emotional power of abstract expression.”

Another great reference is in the last line of the passage. See below.

“His persistent use of comic–art conventions . demonstrates a faith in reconciliation, not only between . cartoons and fine art, but between parody and true (55) feeling.”

It states that his comic art convention is between “parody and true feeling.” This also implies that his work is emotional. Again, for somebody whose work is emotional, Lichtenstein would not want to criticize others for producing emotional paintings.

I hope that it helps. Please feel free to correct me. Thank you.

Ravi on February 13, 2022

With A, attending their exhibitions does not necessarily mean that he approved of their work. It's possible that he attended just so that he could criticize their pieces, so this choice is out.

With B, this does not weaken the idea that late abstract expressionists were too lyrical because B is saying that it was atypical. If he actually praised atypical things in their paintings, then it's still possible for him to have an overall negative view of the artists of this style. Since atypical is abnormal, he's presumably providing praise on a minority of the things in the painting, so it makes sense that he could still overall not be a fan.

C is out because it doesn't provide us with any new knowledge; we already know from the second paragraph that Lichtenstein didn't have a problem with the early expressionists.

With D, the author thinks that emotion was a large part of Lichtenstein's work, as she says in line 50 that "a nostalgia fills his paintings" and lines 54-55 when she says that they have "true feeling." However, this characterization would be weakened if Lichtenstein himself was actually criticizing other pop painters for creating emotional paintings. Thus, D is the correct answer choice.

E doesn't work because it would actually strengthen the author's characterization of Lichtenstein. If Lichtenstein were criticizing pop artists for failing to display emotion, this implies that he thought that emotion in works to be a positive thing, so E is out.

jingjingxiao11111@gmail.com on February 13, 2022

Thank you!