ParaSummary Question 5 - CAT 2022

Passage: There’s a common idea that museum artworks are somehow timeless objects available to admire for generations to come. But many are objects of decay. Even the most venerable Old Master paintings don’t escape: pigments discolour, varnishes crack, canvases warp. This challenging fact of art-world life is down to something that sounds more like a thread from a morality tale: inherent vice. Damien Hirst’s iconic shark floating in a tank – entitled The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living – is a work that put a spotlight on inherent vice. When he made it in 1991, Hirst got himself in a pickle by not using the right kind of pickle to preserve the giant fish. The result was that the shark began to decompose quite quickly – its preserving liquid clouding, the skin wrinkling, and an unpleasant smell wafting from the tank.

A) Museums are left with the moral responsibility of restoring and preserving the artworks since artists cannot preserve their works beyond their life.

B) Museums have to guard timeless art treasures from intrinsic defects such as the deterioration of paint, polish and canvas.

C) The role of museums has evolved to ensure that the artworks are preserved forever in addition to guarding and displaying them.

D) Artworks may not last forever; they may deteriorate with time, and the challenge is to slow down their degeneration.