A Fake can be Defined as an Artwork Intended to Deceive GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

A fake can be defined as an artwork intended to deceive. The motives of its creator are decisive, and the merit of the object itself is a separate issue. The question mark in the title of Mark Jones’s Fake? The (5) Art of Deception reveals the study’s broader concerns. Indeed, it might equally be entitled Original?, and the text begins by noting a variety of possibilities somewhere between the two extremes. These include works by an artist’s followers in the style of the master, (10) deliberate archaism, copying for pedagogical purposes, and the production of commercial facsimiles. The greater part of Fake? is devoted to a

chronological survey suggesting that faking feeds on the many different motives people have for collecting (15) art, and that, on the whole, the faking of art flourishes whenever art collecting flourishes. In imperial Rome there was a widespread interest in collecting earlier Greek art, and therefore, in faking it. No doubt many of the sculptures now exhibited as “Roman copies” were (20) originally passed off as Greek. In medieval Europe, because art was celebrated more for its devotional uses than for its provenance or the ingenuity of its creators, the faking of art was virtually nonexistent. The modern age of faking again in the Italian Renaissance, with (25) two linked developments: a passionate identification with the world of antiquity and a growing sense of individual artistic identity. A patron of the young Michelangelo prevailed upon the artist to make his sculpture Sleeping Cupid look as though it had been (30) buried in the earth so that “it will be taken for antique, and you will sell it much better.” Within a few years, however, beginning with his first masterpiece, the Bacchus, Michelangelo had shown his contemporaries that great art can assimilate and transcend what came (35) before, resulting in a wholly original work. Soon his genius made him the object of imitators.

Fake? also reminds us that in certain cultures authenticity is a foreign concept. This is true of much African art, where the authenticity of an object is (40) considered by collectors to depend on its function. As an illustration, the study compares two versions of a chi wara mask made by the Bambara people of Mali. One has pegs allowing it to be attached to a cap for its intended ceremonial purpose. The second, otherwise (45) identical, lacks the pegs and is a replica made for sale. African carving is notoriously difficult to date, but even if the ritual mask is recent, made perhaps to replace a damaged predecessor, and the replica much older, only the ritual mask should be seen as authentic, (50) for it is tied to the form’s original function. That, at least, is the consensus of the so-called experts. One wonders whether the Bambaran artists would agree.

“A fake can be defined as an artwork intended to deceive"- is a reading comprehension passage with answers for the GMAT. Candidates must have a strong understanding of English GMAT reading comprehension. This GMAT Reading Comprehension section contains 7 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are intended to assess candidates' abilities to comprehend, analyse, and apply information or concepts. GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions can help candidates actively prepare.

Solution and Explanation

1. The passage can best be described as doing which one of the following?

(A) reconciling varied points of view
(B) chronicling the evolution of a phenomenon
(C) exploring a complex question
(D) advocating a new approach
(E) rejecting an inadequate explanation

2. Which one of the following best expresses the author’s main point?

(A) The faking of art has occurred throughout history and in virtually every culture.
(B) Whether a work of art is fake or not is less important than whether it has artistic merit.
(C) It is possible to show that a work of art is fake, but the authenticity of a work cannot be proved conclusively.
(D) A variety of circumstances make it difficult to determine whether a work of art can appropriately be called a fake.
(E) Without an international market to support it, the faking of art would cease.

3. According to the passage, an artwork can be definitively classified as a fake if the person who created it

(A) consciously adopted the artistic style of an influential mentor
(B) deliberately imitated a famous work of art as a learning exercise
(C) wanted other people to be fooled by its appearance
(D) made multiple, identical copies of the work available for sale
(E) made the work resemble the art of an earlier era

4. The author provides a least one example of each of the following EXCEPT:

(A) categories of art that are neither wholly fake nor wholly original
(B) cultures in which the faking or art flourished
(C) qualities that art collectors have prized in their acquisitions
(D) cultures in which the categories “fake” and “original” do not apply
(E) contemporary artists whose works have inspired fakes.

5. The author implies which one of the following about the artistic merits of fakes?

(A) Because of the circumstances of its production, a fake cannot be said to have true artistic merit.
(B) A fake can be said to have artistic merit only if the attempted deception is successful.
(C) A fake may or may not have artistic merit in its own right, regardless of the circumstances of its production.
(D) Whether a fake has artistic merit depends on whether its creator is accomplished as an artist.
(E) The artistic merit of a fake depends on the merit of the original work that inspired the fake.

6. By the standard described in the last paragraph of the passage, which one of the following would be considered authentic?

(A) an ancient Roman copy of an ancient Greek sculpture
(B) a painting begun by a Renaissance master and finished by his assistants after his death
(C) a print of a painting signed by the artist who painted the original
(D) a faithful replica of a ceremonial crown that preserves all the details of, and is indistinguishable from, the original
(E) a modern reconstruction of a medieval altarpiece designed to serve its traditional role in a service of worship

7. Which one of the following best describes how the last paragraph functions in the context of the passage?

(A) It offers a tentative answer to a question posed by the author in the opening paragraph.
(B) It summarizes an account provided in detail in the preceding paragraph.
(C) It provides additional support for an argument advanced by the author in the preceding paragraph.
(D) It examines another facet of a distinction developed in the preceding paragraphs.
(E) It affirms the general principle enunciated at the beginning of the passage.

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