#16 - Cézanne’s art inspired the next generation of artists

[Adam Tyson]

I see two problems with answer B, jonwchalmers99, and the first has already been pointed out here. Cezanne inspired artists who did abstract art, but that is not proof that Cezanne's art was itself abstract. Perhaps there was something else about his work that later abstract artists found inspiring such as his brushwork or his use of light and shadows? And remember that some critics disagree with his role in inspiring Modernism, so if they are correct then perhaps his work had nothing to do with Modernism and wasn't abstract at all!

But also, there is no evidence that Cezanne was an "early" creator of abstract art, even if he did work in an abstract style. Perhaps there had been abstract art of one sort or another for a thousand years before he came along? His work inspired the Modernists, who did abstract work, so he must have been "earlier" than those Modernists artists, but that doesn't mean his abstract work was "early." That's what we call a "Relativity Flaw," like saying "my son is older than my daughter, so my son must be old."

[ashpine17]

so if I reworded D as saying there are many, or few artists who believe that modern art owes less to Cezanne than most experts believe would that be correct?

[Jeff Wren]

Hi ashpine,

Even reworded, Answer D still wouldn't necessarily be correct.

If you look closely at the stimulus, the debate is over whether Cezanne ranks as an early modernist. Most experts say he does, but a few reject this.

This isn't exactly the same as how much modern art owes to Cezanne. In other words, even if Cezanne isn't consider an early modernist himself, he still may have influenced the modern art movement a great deal. Those are separate issues.

[CJ12345:]

hi, powerscore,
is this a very unusual LR MSS? Most MSS are supposed to talk about both sides of a pivot but this AC only addresses the first sentence. What can I make of it? Also, since there is a "while...but" structure, how am I supposed to know that the part after "but" ("a small few reject this idea") is not the main idea?

[srusty]

Hi C! It is certainly one of the more difficult questions, and may not track perfectly with what we see with most other MSS questions. The provided statement is not disputed, so it is the most strongly supported among the answer choices. Hope this helps!