Angel DeCora, the best-known Native American artist in the United States GMAT Reading Comprehension

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Reading Passage Question

Angel DeCora, the best-known Native American artist in the United States before World War I, is rarely discussed by early historians of Native American art. These historians valued what they considered authenticity, defined as an absence of modern and European influences. DeCora was educated by some of the country's leading European American artists, and she used European elements such as vanishing-point perspective to depict Native American subjects Hutchinson argues that this should not preclude DeCora`s work from being considered Native American art. She suggests that by representing the intersection between Native American and European American culture, DeCora`s work challenged the European American view of Native American culture as belonging only to the past, presenting instead of an image of survival and adaptation.

“Angel DeCora, the best-known Native American artist in the United States”- is a GMAT reading comprehension exercise. Candidates need to be highly proficient in GMAT reading comprehension. There are 7 comprehension questions in this GMAT reading comprehension section.

The purpose of the GMAT Reading Comprehension questions is to evaluate candidates' comprehension, analysis, and application skills. Candidates who are actively preparing can benefit from GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

  1. It can be inferred that Hutchinson would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about Native American art?
  1. It is unlikely to develop further in the direction charted by Angel DeCora.
  2. It has been misrepresented by art historians who apply European criteria to art that was not intended to reflect European aesthetic values.
  3. It is most authentic when it uses traditional Native American methods to describe traditional Native American subject matter.
  4. It has traditionally used European elements in ways that differ from the use that European American artists make of those elements.
  5. It can adopt new elements in response to changing cultural conditions and still remain Native American art.

Answer: E
Explanation:
Historians disapproved of the artwork of Angel DeCora because they believed it to be unauthentically Native American. Her art has a vanishing point of influence from Europe. According to Hutchinson, this demonstrates Native Americans' capacity for adaptation and is an example of their art. Option E is Correct. DeCora's art challenged the European American perception of Native American culture. As only existing in the past, giving a vision of survival and adaptation in its place.

  1. The passage let which of the following about the " early historians of Native American art " mentioned in the passage?
  1. Their views of Native American art were strongly influenced by Native Americans` criteria for determining whether art authentically represented their cultures.
  2. Their criteria for judging the authenticity of Native American art gave primacy to subject matter over technique.
  3. They included in histories of Native American art only works created prior to the period of Native Americans` contact with Europeans.
  4. They would regard the use of vanishing-point perspective as an inauthentic element in a painting by a Native American artist.
  5. They were probably familiar with Angel DeCora`s art but unaware that she was Native American.

Answer: D
Explanation:
The first part of the paragraph. Angel DeCora's art is not Native American because the key principle is that genuine art should not have any European influences. Authenticity, which they characterized as the absence of modern and European influences, was highly appreciated by these historians. Rarely was it ever discussed by early Native American art historians. Authenticity, which they characterized as the absence of modern and European influences, was highly appreciated by these historians. This means that historians will consider a work to be authentic if it is free of modern or European influences. Option D indicates the author's primary concentration, and we may infer that historians view the vanishing point. As inauthentic just as they do art that lacks European influences. Angel DeCora couldn't possibly use the vanishing point; it wouldn't make sense. This is the appropriate reaction.

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