- Thu Aug 29, 2024 7:50 pm
#108674
Hi mateoguillamont!
The most succinct support for answer choice (B) can be found in the first paragraph. There we're told that Bearden's work represents "a double triumph" (line 2). This double triumph includes "perfecting the innovative painting techniques he pioneered," as well as "explor[ing] the varieties of African American experience" (lines 4-7). That language indicates what some of Bearden's most significant contributions to art are, which is why we can eliminate answer choice (B), since this is an except question.
By contrast, regarding answer choice (A), we're not told anywhere why exactly Bearden chose painting as his primary means of artistic expression. The would require some amount of backstory that the passage doesn't really address. Regarding the final paragraph, yes, journalism and photography are discussed. However, nothing in that paragraph states that these were types of artistic expression that Bearden considered and rejected in favor of painting. Rather, the paragraph just explains how his work was able to capture a "fullness" (line 46) of a world that had been "rendered cloudy by the simplifications of journalism and documentary photography" (lines 47-48). So that provides the author's view of a strength of Bearden's paintings in comparison with journalism and photography of the period, but it doesn't quite say why Bearden chose painting as his primary means of artistic expression. Since the passage doesn't provide an answer to that question, that confirms that answer choice (A) is correct.
