The Truth About Art Reading Answers

Jan 31, 2023

The Truth About Art Reading Answers 12 questions that are to be answered in 40 minutes. IELTS topic- The Truth About Art Reading Answers deals with some prominent art works and the knowledge of people towards art. The Truth About Art IELTS reading question type has two kinds of questions. That is choosing the correct answer. Candidates need to skim through the passage for the best answer. The Truth About Art Reading Answers helps candidates in their preparation for IELTS. They can also refer to IELTS Reading practice papers.

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Section 1

Read the passage to answer the following questions

The Truth About Art Reading Answers

The Truth About ART

Modern art has had something of a bad press recently - or, to be more precise, it has always had a bad press in certain newspapers and amongst certain sectors of the public. In the public mind, it seems, art (that is, graphic art - pictures - and spatial art - sculpture) is divided into two broad categories. The first is 'classic' art, by which is meant representational painting, drawing and sculpture; the second is 'modern' art, also known as abstract or non-representational. British popular taste runs decidedly in favour of the former, if one believes a recent survey conducted by Charlie Moore, owner of the Loft Gallery and Workshops in Kent, and one of Britain's most influential artistic commentators.

He found that the man (or woman) in the street has a distrust of cubism, abstracts, sculptures made of bricks and all types of so-called 'found' art, He likes Turner and Constable, the great representatives of British watercolour and oil painting respectively, or the French Impressionists, and his taste for statues is limited to the realistic figures of the great and good that litter the British landscape - Robin Hood in Nottingham and Oliver Cromwell outside the Houses of Parliament. This everyman does not believe in primary colours, abstraction and geometry in nature - the most common comment is that such-and-such a painting is "something a child could have done".

Lewis Williams, director of the Beaconsfield Galleries in Hampshire, which specialises in modern painting, agrees. "Look around you at what art is available every day," he says. "Our great museums and galleries specialise in work which is designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. It may be representational, it may be 'realistic' in one sense, but a lot of it wouldn't make it into the great European galleries. Britain has had maybe two or three major world painters in the last 1000 years, so we make up the space with a lot of second-rate material."

Williams believes that our ignorance of what modern art is has been caused by this lack of exposure to truly great art. He compares the experience of the average British city-dweller with that of a citizen of Italy, France or Spain.

"Of course, we don't appreciate any kind of art in the same way because of the paucity of good art in Britain. We don't have galleries of the quality of those in Madrid, Paris, Versailles, Florence, New York or even some places in Russia. We distrust good art - by which I mean both modern and traditional artistic forms - because we don't have enough of it to learn about it. In other countries, people are surrounded by it from birth. Indeed they take it as a birthright, and are proud of it. The British tend to be suspicious of it. It's not valued here."

Not everyone agrees. Emily Cope, who runs the Osborne Art House, believes that while the British do not have the same history of artistic experience as many European countries, their senses are as finely attuned to art as anyone else's.

"Look at what sells - in the great art auction houses, in greetings cards, in posters. Look at what's going on in local amateur art classes up and down the country. Of course, the British are not the same as other countries, but that's true of all nationalities. The French artistic experience and outlook is not the same as the Italian. In Britain, we have artistic influences from all over the world. There's the Irish, Welsh, and Scottish influences, as well as Caribbean, African and European. We also have strong links with the Far East, in particular the Indian subcontinent. All these influences come to bear in creating a British artistic outlook. There's this tendency to say that British people only want garish pictures of clowns crying or ships sailing into battle, and that anything new or different is misunderstood. That's not my experience at all. The British public is poorly educated in art, but that's not the same as being uninterested in it."

Cope points to Britain's long tradition of visionary artists such as William Blake, the London engraver and poet who died in 1827. Artists like Blake tended to be one-offs rather than members of a school, and their work is diverse and often word-based so it is difficult to export.

Perhaps, as ever, the truth is somewhere in between these two opinions. It is true that visits to traditional galleries like the National and the National Portrait Gallery outnumber attendance at more modern shows, but this is the case in every country except Spain, perhaps because of the influence of the two most famous non-traditional Spanish painters of the 20th century, Picasso and Dali. However, what is also true is that Britain has produced a long line of individual artists with unique, almost unclassifiable styles such as Blake, Samuel Palmer and Henry Moore.

Section 2

Solution and Explanation

Questions 29–37

Classify the following statements as referring to

Charlie Moore

Lewis Williams

Emily Cope

Write the appropriate letters A, B or C in boxes 29-37 on your answer sheet.

British people don't appreciate art because they don't see enough art around them all the time.

Answer: B Lewis Williams
Supporting Sentence: we don't appreciate any kind of art in the same way
Keywords: we don't appreciate, art
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5, line 1
Explanation: In the fifth paragraph, Lewis William stated that British people do not appreciate art because there are not enough galleries or art museums like certain countries where their citizens are surrounded by it.

British museums aim to appeal to popular tastes in art.

Answer: B Lewis Williams
Supporting Sentence: Our great museums and galleries specialise in work which is designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator
Keywords: Our great museums, appeal, lowest common denominator
Keyword Location: Paragraph 3, lines 2-5
Explanation: From the supporting sentence from the statement given by Lewis Williams, it can be inferred that museums in Britain aim to appeal to popular arts which can be known by everyone.

The average Englishman likes the works of Turner and Constable.

Answer: A Charlie Moore
Supporting Sentence: British popular taste runs decidedly in favour of the former, if one believes a recent survey conducted by Charlie Moore
Keywords: British popular taste, former, recent survey, Charlie Moore
Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, line 6-7
Explanation: The first paragraph talks about two kinds of arts which are “Classic art” and ”Modern art”. Charlie Moore survey stated that the British people like the first one very much and Turner and Constable are well known artists in that.

Britain, like every other country, has its own view of what art is.

Answer: C Emily Cope
Supporting Sentence: British do not have the same history of artistic experience as many European countries, their senses are as finely attuned to art as anyone else's.
Keywords: British, the same history, artistic experience, many European countries, senses, finely attuned
Keyword Location: Paragraph 6, lines 2-3
Explanation: From Emily Cope statements, it can be inferred that the British do not have the same experience as other countries, but has its own unique perspective towards arts.

In Britain, interest in art is mainly limited to traditional forms such as representational painting.

Answer: A Charlie Moore
Supporting Sentence: British popular taste runs decidedly in favour of the former, if one believes a recent survey conducted by Charlie Moore
Keywords: British popular taste, former, recent survey, Charlie Moore
Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, line 6-7
Explanation: The first paragraph talks about two kinds of arts which are “Classic art” and ”Modern art”. Charlie Moore survey stated that the British people like the first one very much which are in traditional forms represented by paintings.

British art has always been affected by other cultures.

Answer: C Emily Cope
Supporting Sentence: In Britain, we have artistic influences from all over the world.
Keywords: In Britain, artistic influences, over the world.
Keyword Location: Paragraph 7, lines 4-5
Explanation: In the seventh paragraph , Emily Cope clearly stated that British Art has been influenced by the world, meaning that many cultures from various places did create an impact.

Galleries in other countries are of better quality that those in Britain.

Answer: B Lewis Williams
Supporting Sentence: We don't have galleries of the quality of those in Madrid, Paris, Versailles, Florence, New York or even some places in Russia
Keywords: We don't have, galleries of the quality, of those in Madrid
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5, lines 2-3
Explanation: The supporting sentence clearly means that Lewis Williams states that galleries in Britain do not match the qualities of galleries from other countries.

People are not raised to appreciate art.

Answer: B Lewis Williams
Supporting Sentence: Indeed they take it as a birthright, and are proud of it. The British tend to be suspicious of it.
Keywords: Indeed they, take it as a birthright, British tend, suspicious of it
Keyword Location: Paragraph 5, lines 5-6
Explanation: Lewis Williams in the fifth paragraph does state that people from other countries are taught to appreciate art from their birth while the British people are not raised in the same way.

The British have a limited knowledge of art.

Answer: C Emily Cope
Supporting Sentence: The British public is poorly educated in art
Keywords: British, poorly educated, art
Keyword Location: Paragraph 7, line 10
Explanation: In the seventh paragraph, Emily Cope does state that British people have a low level of knowledge in art, but that does not mean they do not have interest in it.

Questions 38–40

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.

Many British artists

are engravers or poets
are great but liked only in Britain
do not belong to a school or general trend
are influenced by Picasso and Dali

Answer: C. do not belong to a school or general trend\
Supporting Sentence: Artists like Blake tended to be one-offs rather than members of a school,
Keywords: Artists, tended, one-offs, rather than, members of a school
Keyword Location: Paragraph 8, line 2-3
Explanation: With the supporting sentence, it can clearly be inferred that many artists from the British did not belong to a school trend.

Classic' art can be described as

sentimental, realistic paintings with geometric shapes
realistic paintings with primary colours
abstract modern paintings and sculptures
realistic, representational pictures and sculptures

Answer: D. realistic, representational pictures and sculptures
Supporting Sentence: The first is 'classic' art, by which is meant representational painting, drawing and sculpture;
Keywords: 'classic' art, meant, representational painting
Keyword Location: Paragraph 1, lines 5-6
Explanation: The first paragraph does state that “Classic art” includes arts that are drawing, sculptures and representational paintings. Therefore the fourth option is the suitable answer.

In Spain, people probably enjoy modern art because

their artists have a classifiable style
the most renowned modern artists are Spanish
they attend many modern exhibitions
they have different opinions on art

Answer: B. the most renowned modern artists are Spanish
Supporting Sentence: but this is the case in every country except Spain, perhaps because of the influence of the two most famous non-traditional Spanish painters of the 20th century,
Keywords: except Spain, influence, Spanish painters
Keyword Location: Last paragraph, lines 3-4
Explanation: In the last paragraph, it is stated that Spain has more modern art lovers because the artists who have more influence are non-traditional Spanish painters from the 20th century. With this, it is clear that the second option is the most suited answer.

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