Critical Reasoning

The Copper Butterfly, an unsigned classical painting, was carbon dated to ascertain its age, previously estimated at 520 years. Manuscripts from that time reveal that one of two possible artists must be responsible for the painting's creation. One of the artists died one week after the painting had been commissioned while the other died 13 years later. Because in those days oil paintings usually took a long time to complete, it was probably the artist who died later who painted the Copper Butterfly.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the hypothesis that the Copper Butterfly was painted by the artist who died later?


A - The artist who died later was murdered whereas the artist who died earlier passed away after contracting a disease that was plaguing the area.

B - The artist who died earlier completed a different oil painting one week before the Copper Butterfly was commissioned.

C - The oil paint used 520 years ago was produced by the artists themselves for each painting, in a chemical reaction that took eleven days to prepare.

D - The artist who painted the Copper Butterfly did not paint another picture for the person who commissioned it.

E - The artist who died earlier was known for leaving his paintings unsigned.

OA is C

IMO A.If the disease was plaguing in the area that it is likely that the painter who died after a week died because of the illness.And it is unlikely that he was painting at the time of illness.

Please let us know whats the OA.

OA is updated.

someone care to explain this?

faraz_jeddah wrote:The Copper Butterfly, an unsigned classical painting, was carbon dated to ascertain its age, previously estimated at 520 years. Manuscripts from that time reveal that one of two possible artists must be responsible for the painting's creation. One of the artists died one week after the painting had been commissioned while the other died 13 years later. Because in those days oil paintings usually took a long time to complete, it was probably the artist who died later who painted the Copper Butterfly.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the hypothesis that the Copper Butterfly was painted by the artist who died later?


A - The artist who died later was murdered whereas the artist who died earlier passed away after contracting a disease that was plaguing the area.

B - The artist who died earlier completed a different oil painting one week before the Copper Butterfly was commissioned.

C - The oil paint used 520 years ago was produced by the artists themselves for each painting, in a chemical reaction that took eleven days to prepare.

D - The artist who painted the Copper Butterfly did not paint another picture for the person who commissioned it.

E - The artist who died earlier was known for leaving his paintings unsigned.

OA is C

C: The oil paint used 520 years ago was produced by the artists themselves for each painting, in a chemical reaction that took eleven days to prepare.
Since the first artist died ONE WEEK after the Copper Butterfly was commissioned, and the paint used to create the Copper Butterfly must have taken ELEVEN DAYS to prepare, the first artist could not have painted the Copper Butterfly.
Thus, the conclusion that the second artist painted the Copper Butterfly is strengthened.

The correct answer is C.

Why D is wrong here ? I was confused between C and D but then ultimately I selected D as my answer.

ankitongmat wrote:Why D is wrong here ? I was confused between C and D but then ultimately I selected D as my answer.

D: The artist who painted the Copper Butterfly did not paint another picture for the person who commissioned it.
Consider the following:
THE ARTIST WHO DIED EARLIER did not paint another picture for the person who commissioned the Copper Butterly.
Since D could apply to the artist who died earlier -- WEAKENING the conclusion that the artist who died LATER produced the Copper Butterfly -- eliminate D.

ankitongmat wrote:Why D is wrong here ? I was confused between C and D but then ultimately I selected D as my answer.

commissioned means the day it was finalized that the painting will be drawn.

Now the facts are that of the two artist who could have made the paintings:
One died one week after the painting had been commissioned.
The other died 13 years later.
Conclusion: The artist who died later painted the painting.

So we need to prove that it took more than one week to paint the painting in those days which will imply that the Artist who died in a week couldn't have painted the painting.

Now Choice C says exactly what we need to prove as according to choice C it will take eleven days (more than a week) just to prepare the oil paints.

Would it be incorrect to say that while it takes 11 days to prepare the oil paint, the painter may have prepared it say in the beginning of the year, while he died in the later part of the very same year? Therefore c is not 100% airtight?

The Copper Butterfly, an unsigned classical painting, was carbon dated to ascertain its age, previously estimated at 520 years. Manuscripts from that time reveal that one of two possible artists must be responsible for the painting's creation. One of the artists died one week after the painting had been commissioned while the other died 13 years later. Because in those days oil paintings usually took a long time to complete, it was probably the artist who died later who painted the Copper Butterfly.

B - The artist who died earlier completed a different oil painting one week before the Copper Butterfly was commissioned.

since it would take a long time and he had only 2 weeks for a new painting... not very probable...

as for C... he could had made the paint before starting the painting

so for me B is the answer.. whats the source of the question ?

mariofelixpasku wrote:The Copper Butterfly, an unsigned classical painting, was carbon dated to ascertain its age, previously estimated at 520 years. Manuscripts from that time reveal that one of two possible artists must be responsible for the painting's creation. One of the artists died one week after the painting had been commissioned while the other died 13 years later. Because in those days oil paintings usually took a long time to complete, it was probably the artist who died later who painted the Copper Butterfly.

B - The artist who died earlier completed a different oil painting one week before the Copper Butterfly was commissioned.

By the time the Copper Butterfly was commissioned, the different oil painting had already been COMPLETED.
Implication: The earlier artist was AVAILABLE to paint the Copper Butterfly when it was commissioned.
This information could WEAKEN the conclusion that the LATER artist painted the Copper Butterfly.
Eliminate B.

as for C... he could had made the paint before starting the painting

so for me B is the answer.. whats the source of the question ?

C: The oil paint used 520 years ago was produced by the artists themselves FOR EACH PAINTING, in a chemical reaction that took eleven days to prepare.
Implication: artists did not keep around tubs of paint.
Rather, paint was produced FOR EACH PAINTING.
Thus, after the commissioning of the Copper Butterfly, 11 days were needed to prepare the required paint.
Since the earlier artist died ONE WEEK after the painting had been commissioned, he could not have painted the Copper Butterfly -- supporting the conclusion that the LATER artist created the painting.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

faraz_jeddah wrote:The Copper Butterfly, an unsigned classical painting, was carbon dated to ascertain its age, previously estimated at 520 years. Manuscripts from that time reveal that one of two possible artists must be responsible for the painting's creation. One of the artists died one week after the painting had been commissioned while the other died 13 years later. Because in those days oil paintings usually took a long time to complete, it was probably the artist who died later who painted the Copper Butterfly.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the hypothesis that the Copper Butterfly was painted by the artist who died later?


A - The artist who died later was murdered whereas the artist who died earlier passed away after contracting a disease that was plaguing the area.

B - The artist who died earlier completed a different oil painting one week before the Copper Butterfly was commissioned.

C - The oil paint used 520 years ago was produced by the artists themselves for each painting, in a chemical reaction that took eleven days to prepare.

D - The artist who painted the Copper Butterfly did not paint another picture for the person who commissioned it.

E - The artist who died earlier was known for leaving his paintings unsigned.

OA is C

C: The oil paint used 520 years ago was produced by the artists themselves for each painting, in a chemical reaction that took eleven days to prepare.
Since the first artist died ONE WEEK after the Copper Butterfly was commissioned, and the paint used to create the Copper Butterfly must have taken ELEVEN DAYS to prepare, the first artist could not have painted the Copper Butterfly.
Thus, the conclusion that the second artist painted the Copper Butterfly is strengthened.

The correct answer is C.

Why cant the painting be created well ahead before the first painter died ? Probably he must have created the painting ( after having used 11 days to create the oil), finished the painting and then died? The painting could have been commissioned later.

do these types of questions turn up in GMAT?

what the source for the Question?

Source - Gmat Tutor by Economist

Deepthi Subbu wrote:Why cant the painting be created well ahead before the first painter died ? Probably he must have created the painting ( after having used 11 days to create the oil), finished the painting and then died? The painting could have been commissioned later.

To commission a painting is to authorize its production.
Thus, the Copper Butterfly must have been commissioned before it was produced.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

faraz_jeddah wrote:The Copper Butterfly, an unsigned classical painting, was carbon dated to ascertain its age, previously estimated at 520 years. Manuscripts from that time reveal that one of two possible artists must be responsible for the painting's creation. One of the artists died one week after the painting had been commissioned while the other died 13 years later. Because in those days oil paintings usually took a long time to complete, it was probably the artist who died later who painted the Copper Butterfly.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the hypothesis that the Copper Butterfly was painted by the artist who died later?


A - The artist who died later was murdered whereas the artist who died earlier passed away after contracting a disease that was plaguing the area.

B - The artist who died earlier completed a different oil painting one week before the Copper Butterfly was commissioned.

C - The oil paint used 520 years ago was produced by the artists themselves for each painting, in a chemical reaction that took eleven days to prepare.

D - The artist who painted the Copper Butterfly did not paint another picture for the person who commissioned it.

E - The artist who died earlier was known for leaving his paintings unsigned.

OA is C

C: The oil paint used 520 years ago was produced by the artists themselves for each painting, in a chemical reaction that took eleven days to prepare.
Since the first artist died ONE WEEK after the Copper Butterfly was commissioned, and the paint used to create the Copper Butterfly must have taken ELEVEN DAYS to prepare, the first artist could not have painted the Copper Butterfly.
Thus, the conclusion that the second artist painted the Copper Butterfly is strengthened.

The correct answer is C.

While C is the correct answer, the logic is not water tight because it is based on the assumption that the painter did not have the colors. There is no mention of the color in the passage and hence this point can be contradicted by saying that maybe the already had the colors and hence did not need the 11 days to make it.
By elimination I came to C but I was not totally convinced with the answer choices. Kindly comment.