Whenweconsidergreatpaintersofthepast,thestudyofartandthestudyofillusioncannotalwaysbeseparated.ByillusionImeanthosecontrivancesofcolor,line,shape,andforththatleadustoseemarksonaflatsurfaceasdepictingthree-dimensionalobjectsinspace.ImustemphasizethatIamnotmakingaplea,disguisedorotherwise,fortheexerciseofillusionisttricksinpaintingtoday,althoughIam,infactrathercriticalofcertaintheoriesofnon-representationalart.Buttoargueoverthesetheorieswouldbetomissthepoint.ThatthediscoveriesandeffectsofrepresentationthatweretheprideofearlierartistshavebecometrivialtodayIwouldnotdenyforamoment.YetIbelievethatweareinrealdangeroflosingcontactwithpastmastersifweacceptthefashionabledoctrinethatsuchmattersneverhadanythingtodowithart.Theveryreasonwhytherepresentationofnaturecannowbeconsideredsomethingcommonplaceshouldbeofthegreatestinteresttoarthistorians.Neverbeforehastherebeenanagewhenthevisualimagewassocheapineverysenseoftheword.Wearesurroundedandassailedbypostersandadvertisements,comicsandmagazineillustrations.Weseeaspectsofrealityrepresentedontelevision,postagestamps,andfoodpackages.Paintingistaughtinschoolandpracticedasapastime,andmanymodestamateurshavemasteredtricksthatwouldhavelookedlikesheermagictothe14th?centurypainterGiotto.EventhecrudecoloredrenderingsonacerealboxmighthavemadeGiotto’scontemporariesgasp.PerhapstherearepeoplewhoconcludedfromthisthatthecerealboxissuperiortoaGiotto;Idonot.ButIthinkthatthevictoryandvulgarizationofrepresentationalskillscreateaproblemforbotharthistoriansandcritics.InthisconnectionitisinstructivetoremembertheGreeksayingthattomarvelisthebeginningofknowledgeandifweceasetomarvelwemaybeindangerofceasingtoknow.Ibelievewemustrestoreoursenseofwonderatthecapacitytoconjureupbyforms,lines,shades,orcolorsthosemysteriousphantomsofvisualrealitywecall“pictures.”Evencomicsandadvertisements,rightlyviewed,providefoodforthought.Justasthestudyofpoetryremainsincompletewithoutanawarenessofthelanguageofprose,so,Ibelieve,thestudyofartwillbeincreasinglysupplementedbyinquiryintothe“linguistics”ofthevisualimage.Thewaythelanguageofartreferstothevisibleworldisbothsoobviousandsomysteriousthatitisstilllargelyunknownexcepttoartistswhouseitasweusealllanguage—withoutneedingtoknowitsgrammarandsemantics. Theauthor’sstatementregardinghowartistsusethelanguagesofartimpliesthat_____.
A.artists are better equipped than art historians to provide detailed evaluations of other artist’s work
B.many artists have an unusually quick, intuitive understanding of language
C.artists can produce works of art even if they cannot analyze their methods of doing so
D.artists of the past, such as Giotto, were better educated about artistic issues than were artists of the author’s time
正确答案是A