Question

The Board of Trustees of the Federici Art Museum has decided to sell some works from its collection in order to raise the funds necessary to refurbish its galleries. Although this may seem like a drastic remedy, the curator had long maintained that among the paintings that the late Ms. Federici collected for the museum were several unsuccessful immature works by Renoir and Cezanne that should be sold because they are of inferior quality and so add nothing to the overall quality of the museum’s collection. Hence, the board’s action will not detract from the museum’s collection.

Which one of the following, if true, most weaken the argument?


(A) The directors of an art museum can generally raise funds for refurbishing the building in which the museum’s collection is housed by means other than selling parts of its collection.
(B) The quality of an art collection is determined not just by the quality of its paintings, but by what development of the artistic talent and ideas of the artists represented.
(C) The immature woks by Renoir and Cezanne that were purchased by Ms. Federici were at that time thought by some critics to be unimportant juvenile works.
(D) Those people who speculate in art by purchasing artworks merely to sell them at much higher prices welcome inflation in the art market, but curators of art museum regret the inflation in the art market.
(E) The best work of a great artist demands much higher prices in the art market than the worst work of that same artist.

Answer 1

(B) The quality of an art collection is determined not just by the quality of its paintings, but by what development of the artistic talent and ideas of the artists represented.

Step-by-step explanation:

Any statement that weakens the argument is one that asserts that the artwork by Renoir and Cezanne may have some sort of value, and if sold will decrease the value of the collection.

Option B clearly indicates that the quality of an art collection is determined not just by the quality of its paintings, but by what development of the artistic talent and ideas of the artists represented. This is an indication or factor to consider whether the works by Renoir and Cezanne is actually valueless.