Self-study
P1
The painter Roy Lichtenstein helped to define pop art—the movement that incorporated commonplace objects and commercial-art techniques into paintings—by paraphrasing the style of comic books in his work. ███
Intro topic ·
Lichtenstein's pop art
Pop art = commonplace objects and commercial-art techniques in paintings. Lichtenstein brought style of comic books to this kind of art.
Impact of Lichtenstein's art ·
Poked fun at pretensions of art world, but transcended parody
Lichtenstein's pop art had seriousness of theme that made it more than just parody.
P2
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Lichtenstein's art as fine art ·
Was fine art, but didn't look like it because of their comic book elements
Historical context ·
Pop art was a reaction to second generation of abstract expressionists
The standard perpsective is that pop art was a reaction to the first generation of abstract expressionists. But it was actually a reaction to the second -- whose work involved high-minded, lyrical elements.
Lichtenstein's art ·
Part of rebellion against fading emotions of abstract expressionism
So, Lichtenstein's art had emotional power.
P3
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Lichtenstein's art more than parody ·
Impulse toward realism and depiction of contemporary life
Contrast with some pop art ·
Lichtenstein's art displayed deliberate naivete about consumer culture, rather than cynicism
His art was response to overly sophisticated art of the second generation of abstract expressionists and of some other pop artists.
Passage Style
Single position
Spotlight
8.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ ██████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ███ ████████
a
Lichtenstein's use of █████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██████████ ██████ █ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████████████ ██ █████ ████████ ██████████████ ██ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ███ ███████████ ████████ ████ ██ ███████ ████████ ███████████████
Not supported, because the author doesn’t suggest that Lichtenstein wanted to “re-create” the work of earlier abstract expressionists. Although he wanted art to have the emotional power of earlier expressionism, this doesn’t imply that his work “re-created” anything. In addition, (A) misses the last paragraph’s focus on the themes in Lichtenstein’s work.
b
Lichtenstein's use of █████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ █ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ███████████████ ██ █████ ████████ █████████████ ███ ████ ████████████ ██ ███████ ██ ███████ █████████ ███ █████████ ███████ ██████████████ ██ ███ ██████████
This best captures the main point — Lichtenstein’s work wasn’t just parody; it also had serious themes. (B) specifies those themes as described by the last paragraph — Lichtenstein had an “impulse toward realism” and imbued his paintings with a feeling of nostalgia.
c
Lichtenstein's use of █████ ████ ████████ ████████ ███ █████████ ██████████ █████████ ██ ███ ██████████ █ █████████ ████ ███ █████████ ███ ████ ████ █████ ██████████ ██ ████ ███ ██ ███ █████████████ ██████████
Unsupported, because we’re not told that the comic book elements have have “prevented” Lichtenstein’s work from being recognized as fine art. We are told that his work was “at first” difficult to see as fine art, but that suggests eventually his work was able to be seen as fine art. Because (C) is unsupported, it can’t be the main point.
d
Lichtenstein's use of █████ ████ ████████ ███████ ██ ████ ███ █████████ ██ ███████ █████████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ████████ █████████████ ████ ████ ███ ███████ █ █████████ ███████ ███ ███████████████ ██ ███ █████ ████████ ███████████████
This is too narrow. The distinction between earlier and later abstract expressionism and what Lichtenstein was reacting to is just the point of P2. It doesn’t capture the overall point that Lichtenstein’s work was more than parody and had serious themes.
e
Lichtenstein's use of █████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████ ██████ █ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ ██████████████ ██ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ██████ ██████ █████████████ ██ ████ ██ ███████ ██ █████████ ███ ███ ███ ████ ████
Unsupported. Lichtenstein’s work was a response to the “excess of sophistication.” It wouldn’t make sense for the author to believe that Lichtenstein’s own work was highly sophisticated, at least in the sense the word “sophisticated” is used in (E). Although the author does say that Lichtenstein’s work generated a “complex” result, the meaning of “sophistication” as used in the passage and in (E) does not match to “complex.”