Gre analytical Writing issue essay Topic 101

GRE Analytical Writing ISSUE Essay Topic - 169 
"Although, critics who write about the arts tend to deny the existence of any objective standards 
for evaluating works of art, they have a responsibility to establish standards by which works of 
art can be judged." 
GRE AWA Analytical Writing ISSUE Essay Sample 
Solution - 169 
A piece of art has to be appreciated as it stems from the imagination of the artist. Critics may 
have assumed the responsibility to critically analyze the works of art put forward by artists, but 
can they compare the works of art of two different artists? Each artist has his own perspective 
and he may choose to express his views in a form or style that is different from those of other 
artists. It is difficult to define a set of rules that can determine how an artist can express himself. 
Hence, it is not justified to establish standards for judging such works of art and therefore, there 
is no requirement of critics to set standards for evaluating works of art. 
The works of art that we come across are manifestations of the artists' views, emotions and 
observations. An artist may define his feelings in a manner that is not common. For instance 
there may be a painter who chooses to make monochrome paintings that are devoid of colors. 
Can the critics set a standard that paintings should utilize colors thereby, making the work of this 
particular artist sub-standard? The paintings may appeal to a particular section of the society; 
whereas there may be another section of society that does not find these black and white 
paintings attractive enough. People have the liberty of voicing their opinions and critically 
assessing artwork, but it would be unjust to set standards that have to be met by artists while 
making their artworks. 
An inevitable repercussion of setting such standards would be that artists would no longer feel 
free to come up with revolutionary ideas. They would be compelled to follow the norms that 
have been laid down and the result would be a monotonous production of works of art, most of 
which would be similar to what has been put up by other artists. This is because no artist would 
like to make something that is below the standards that have been set for that particular type of 
artwork. If a standard has been set for all works of art regarding sculpture, why would sculptors 
try to think of something that deviates from the laid down norms? Even if a sculptor makes some 
piece of sculpture that does not meet the recommended standards, he will probably never put it 
up in an exhibition because his name might be tarnished for putting up a sub-standard piece of 
art. The result would be that the world would never come to know what he had made and there is 
a probability that it could have generated mass appeal if that piece had been displayed to the 
public. Therefore, it is evident that imposing such standards may affect the creativity and 
ingenuity of artists in a major way. 
The ideas and values that are represented by an artist's work of art cannot be accurately evaluated 
by critics as there may be a difference of opinion amongst the critics themselves. It is not 

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necessary that all critics would have the same opinion regarding a work of art. Take for example 
the book reviews or the movie reviews that we come across on the internet or the print media. 
There are some people who find the particular work being reviewed useful and appealing while 
others find that it is not worth spending time upon. This example consolidates the fact that 
people have a difference of opinion when it comes to evaluating any kind of work, irrespective 
of whether it is a work of art or not. 
The very fact that people have different choices related to music, holiday destinations, movies, 
clothes, colors, flowers etc. proves that works of art will also be assessed differently by different 
people. How can then a set of people designated as critics set standards for evaluating works of 
art? Therefore, it is evident that it is not possible for art critics to set up standards that are 
globally unquestionable, for evaluating works of art. 

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