1. The author of the passage is primarily concerned with
(A) explaining how the Impressionists were influenced by scientific studies of light and color
(B) discussing the philosophical implications of the Impressionist style of painting
(C) identifying the revolutionary artistic techniques developed by the Impressionist painters
(D) analyzing the influence of thinkers like Taine and Mauclair on Impressionist painting
(E) defending the importance of the Impressionist painters in the history of modern art


Explanation: Author throughout the passage, tries to draw philosophical implications that the Impressionist Paintings had. Though the techniques used by painters are discussed in details, the results obtained from these techniques are the main concern, as mentioned in the passage: " Impressionist picture do not tell story or convey any special meaning; they are, instead, merely parts of pattern of light drawn from nature and captured on canvas by the artist.". Last lines of the passage completely change the way we look at the passage, as then we understand that implications of the style of painting is the main concern put forward by the author.


2. According to the passage, the Impressionists differed from the ancient Greeks in that the Impressionists
(A) considered color to be property inherent in objects
(B) placed a higher value on the narrative element in painting
(C) depicted the objects in a painting as isolated, rather than united in a single pattern
(D) treated light, rather than matter, as the ultimate reality
(E) regarded art primarily as a medium for expressing moral and aesthetic ideas

Explanation: can be directly inferred from the lines: "The Impressionists, on the other hand, viewed light, not matter, as the ultimate visual reality.", implying that the Impressionists considered light as the most important part of their painting, in comparison to Greeks, who viewed matter as an an important aspects in their paintings.


3. The author’s quotation of a statement by Taine (lines 15-16) serves which of the following functions in the passage?
(A) It furnishes a specific example of an Impressionist painting that features light as its chief subject.
(B) It resolves an apparent contradiction in the philosophy of the Impressionists.
(C) It qualifies the statement that the ancient Greeks viewed the world in concrete terms.
(D) It summarizes the unique perspective that the Impressionists brought to painting.
(E) It provides a concrete illustration of the far-reaching philosophical implications of Impressionism.

Explanation: Lines in concern: "The chief ‘person’ in a picture is the light in which everything is bathed.”, These lines in short define the view as portrayed by Impressionist painters, in which they considered light as the most important part of their paintings.


4. According to the passage, the Impressionists believed that the atmosphere
The Impressionist world was composed not of separate objects but of many surfaces on which light struck and was reflected with varying intensity to the eye through the atmosphere, which modified it. It was this process that produced the mosaic of colors that formed an Impressionist canvas.

(A) reflects light with varying intensity - atmosphere does not reflect but the surfaces do
(B) creates the illusion of color in colorless surfaces - Incorrect
(C) modifies the shapes of objects - Out of scope
(D) is the result of vibrations of light - Incorrect - the atmosphere by itself is not the result but the process of light striking a surface and reflecting with varying intensity to eye occurs through the atmosphere.
(E) affects the way we perceived color - Correct -

Answer E

The author uses the word mosaic to impress upon us the many small surfaces on which light struck and was reflected with varying intensity (hence producing different colours).
The author further emphasises that the object is secondary (implying that it's not a continuous flow of colour to show an object)

5. The author’s use of the term “mosaic of colors” (line 32) suggests that Impressionist paintings were characterized by
(A) discontinuous dabs of unmixed pigment
This is what mosaic represents. Correct

(B) broad, sweeping brush strokes
Not true. Light reflecting off many surfaces with varying intensity does not imply broad brush strokes.

(C) clearly defined forms and objects
No. It is not about the objects. It is about light only.

(D) subjects devoid of emotive or literary qualities
Though the author seems to be implying that impressionist paintings did not focus on the emotions of the subjects, mosaic of colours does not indicate that. A mosaic is made with discontinuous dabs of paint and the author is trying to bring that out here. He is trying to tell us that the painting is all about light reflected on many surfaces creating a mosaic of colours.

(E) the glowing reds, greens, and midnight blues of stained glass
Though mosaics are made on glass too (along with other surfaces), there is nothing that leads us to believe in the specifics given in this option. Many surfaces would produce many colours and stained glass is too specific to be implied by the term "mosaic".

Answer (A)


For question 6, answer (E) is correct.


I. How did the Impressionists perceive matter?

"The ancient Greeks had conceived of the world in concrete terms, even endowing abstract qualities with bodies. This Greek view of matter persisted, so far as painting was concerned, into the nineteenth century. The Impressionists, on the other hand, viewed light, not matter, as the ultimate visual reality."

Gives the Greek view of matter (bodies/objects). Impressionists' viewed matter as "not the ultimate visual reality".

"In Impressionist painting, solid bodies became mere reflectors of light, and distinctions between one object and another became arbitrary conventions"

Gives how Impressionists viewed matter.

"The Impressionist world was composed not of separate objects but of many surfaces on which light struck..."

Again, gives how Impressionists viewed matter.

II. What is the unifying element in a typical Impressionist painting?

"...for by light all things were welded together"

No doubt about this that light was the unifying element.

II. How did the Impressionists’ view of color differ from that of eighteenth-century artists?

"...Color, formerly considered a property inherent in an object, was seen to be merely the result of vibrations of light on the object’s colorless surface."


As for #7, what we know about Impressionists is that they were preoccupied with light, not with the actual objects in the picture. Paragraph 4 even tells us that they didn't care about the underlying meaning or significance of the painting. For those reasons, we can eliminate A, B, and D, which all have to do with meaning and ideas, rather than the visual nature of the picture.

That leaves us with C and E. E goes against the idea of the passage, which is that Impressionism was "a purely optic art" (p3). It's certainly possible that they knew they couldn't fully recreate what the world looked like, but there's no indication that they thought it was futile to try. C, on the other hand, says that the objects are not the point of the painting. This is emphasized heavily in p2.