Reading Comprehension

The impressionist painters expressly disavowed any interest in philosophy, yet their new approach to art had far-reaching philosophical implications. For the view of matter that the Impressionists assumed differed profoundly from the view that had previously prevailed among artists. This view helped to unify the artistic works created in the new style.
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. The philosopher Taine expressed the Impressionist view of things when he said, "The chief 'person' in a picture is the light in which everything is bathed."
In Impressionist painting, solid bodies became mere reflectors of light, and distinctions between one object and another became arbitrary conventions; for by light all things were welded together. The treatment of both color and outline was transformed as well. 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. And outline, whose function had formerly been to indicate the limits of objects, now marked instead merely the boundary between units of pattern, which often merged into one another.
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. "Light becomes the sole subject of the picture," writes Mauclair. "The interest of the object upon which it plays is secondary. Painting thus conceived becomes a purely optic art."
From this profoundly revolutionary form of art, then, all ideas-religious, moral, psychological-were excluded, and so were all emotions except certain aesthetic ones. The people, places, and things depicted in an 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.

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

7. The ideas attributed to the Impressionists in the passage suggest that an Impressionist painter would be most likely to agree with which of the following statement?
(A) A picture is significant primarily as a manifestation of the artist's mental state.
(B) The highest purpose of art is to teach religious truths.
(C) The quality of a picture has nothing to do with the nature of the objects it depicts.
(D) An artist should strive to recreate on canvas the inner nature of objects from real life.
(E) It is futile to attempt to paint pictures that aim to copy the optical appearance of the world.

Please explain your line of reasoning for selecting answers.

1B
7C

In 1,
A can be eliminated as the passage does not discuss how impressionists were influenced by scientific studies of light and color.
B) Refer to the first para of the passage. The author does start the passage discussing the philosophical implications of the Impressionist style of painting and does so through the passage.
C)Irrelavant
D)It would be going too far to say that the primary objective of the passage was to discuss influence of thinkers like Taine and Mauclair on Impressionist painting
E)No mention of the same in the passage.

Hence B!

In 7,
A) No, this passage never goes into mental state of artists.
B) Not discussed in the passage.
C) Refer the last paragraph of the passage. The author says "The people, places, and things depicted in an 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". So, this is correct.
D)Irrelavant
E)Irrelavant

Hence C!

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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 - This question asks for the main point of the passage. This is the most appropriate
(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

7. The ideas attributed to the Impressionists in the passage suggest that an Impressionist painter would be most likely to agree with which of the following statement?
(A) A picture is significant primarily as a manifestation of the artist's mental state.
(B) The highest purpose of art is to teach religious truths.
(C) The quality of a picture has nothing to do with the nature of the objects it depicts-
This is an inference Q, according to the passage, an impressionist painter thinks of light as the most imp element in the painting and the the objects merely reflect the light. Tts the most appropriate answer choice.
(D) An artist should strive to recreate on canvas the inner nature of objects from real life.
(E) It is futile to attempt to paint pictures that aim to copy the optical appearance of the world.