Self-study
Art historian: This painting, purportedly by Mary Cassatt, is a forgery. ████████ ███ ██████ ███ █████ █████████ ███ ██████████ ████ ████ ██ █████████ █████ ███ ███ ███████ ██████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ ██ █████████ ██████ ██████████ ███ █████ █████ ██ ████ ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███ ████ █████ ██ ██ ██████████ █████ ████ ████████ ██ ██████████ ███ █ ███████ ████████
Summary
The author concludes that this painting is a forgery, and not a genuine Cassatt.
Why?
Because the brush style of the painting is not found in any work known to be Cassatt’s.
Notable Assumptions
The author assumes that Cassatt could not have used a brush style in this painting that does not match a brush style found in works known to be hers. (In other words, the author assumes that in order for the painting to be genuinely Cassatt’s, it must use a brush style that’s found in one of her known works.)
23.
The art historian's argument depends ██ ████████ █████ ███ ██ ███ ██████████
a
The type of ██████ ███ █████ █████████ ████ ███████ ████ ██ ████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ███████ █████████ ██ ███████
Not necessary, because even if the type of canvas and other materials she used were NOT readily available to others, that doesn’t undermine the argument. Someone still could have managed to use a canvas and materials like the ones she used, even if those things were difficult to access.
b
None of Cassatt's █████ ██ ███████ █████ █ █████ █████ ████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ███ ██ ███ █████ ██████
Necessary, because if this were not true — if SOME of Cassatt’s works are painted in a brush style that is not exhibited in any of her known works — then that raises the possibility that the painting still COULD be a genuine Cassatt.
c
Cassatt's work generally ███ █ ██████████████ ███████ ██████ ████ █████████████ ██ ████ ███ ████ ██ █████ ████████ ██ ███ ████
Not necessary, because whether Cassatt’s work had influence on other painters is irrelevant. No part of the reasoning depends on influence on other painters.
d
The most characteristic ███████ ██ █████████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ██████
Not necessary, because even if her brush style is not the “most” characteristic feature, it can still be a feature that allows one to distinguish a real Cassatt from a fake. A feature does not need to be the “most” characteristic in order to be a sign of that painter’s work.
e
No painter other ████ ███████ █████ ██ ████ ██ █████ █████████ █████ █████ ██████████
Not necessary, because even if SOME painter other than Cassatt could match her brush style perfectly, the brush style in the painting doesn’t match the style in any of Cassatt’s known works. Also, the negation of (E) is consistent with the argument, because it raises the possibility that someone might forge a Cassatt, which is what the author is trying to show.