Table of Contents
BEST IELTS General Reading Test 193
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 193 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS GENERAL READING TEST – 193
READING PASSAGE – 2
How to Choose Art for Your Home
Having art in your home enhances the ambiance in a very special way. And the great thing is, given the sheer range in art styles and genres, even the most finicky buyers can find something or the other to their liking and budget. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars, consult an art adviser, or restrict yourself to high-brow art. What you like is the main thing, it is after all your home and the art in it ought to be the sort that gives you joy. So follow your intuition and choose works that you find inspiring or those that evoke wonderful memories. Enjoy the process of finding, choosing and buying art for your home.
IELTS General Reading Test
Let’s take a look at some of the things you need to consider:
Have an idea about your style: Usually, your overall sense of style will influence your choice in art as well. For example, if you have a very modernistic slant in clothes, furniture and home decor, you might find abstract or modernistic paintings and sculptures interesting. Consider also the mood you’d like to create: peaceful, restful, soothing, inviting, vibrant, and so on.
Acquaint yourself with different art forms, genres and styles: It always helps to know what you’re getting into, what’s out there and how to differentiate between priceless, good, or plain chaff. Familiarity with art history as well as the current art scene is a plus. Refer to art books, art magazines and online art sources. Visit art galleries, museums and art shows. Talk to artists, art dealers and art curators. The more you know, the easier it will be for you to zero onto your choice.
IELTS General Reading Test
Know where to buy and how to buy art: You can buy art directly from the artist, at art galleries, art shows, art dealer stores, art fairs, flea markets, roadside stalls, antique shops and auctions. Attend art auctions to know how they work. Selling and buying art online has made life easier for everyone, but do exercise caution.
Inquire about artwork provenance (provenance documents help establish authenticity and come handy if you decide to resell later) and artwork condition. Request detailed photos of front and back, and ask about payment and shipping procedures Research current art prices and do have a definite budget.
Decide if you want original art or reproductions: Original artworks are more expensive than reproductions. Reproductions prints or exact copies in actual materials (not made by the original artist) are great if you have a limited budget, or if the art you absolutely want is absolutely beyond your reach (like in a well-guarded museum).
IELTS General Reading Test
Decide if you are going to buy art by artist, genre, theme or media: Bear in mind that most artists produce quite an uneven body of work. In short, every work won’t be a masterpiece. Buy on strength of the work not because the artist is happening. Similarly, when it comes to genre (Impressionism, Expressionism, Realism, etc.), theme (landscapes, seascapes, still-lifes, figural, etc.), or media (water-color, oil, acrylic, pastel, charcoal, etching, lithography, etc.), let it boil down down to personal choice, not the current trend; unless you intend to keep changing the art with the changing scenario.
Consider what suits your home and your lifestyle: If you have a rambunctious household filled with kids and pets, there might be safety issues with displaying glass figurines or sharp-edged bronze sculptures
IELTS General Reading Test
Decide if you’re going to buy for personal pleasure or investment: Get the best original art you can afford, if buying for investment; only original art has serious resale value. For personal pleasure, both original art and reproductions can do. In either case, buy art you can live with. That way, even if the work doesn’t appreciate in the future, you’ll still have a winner.
Take your home design into account: Do you plan on displaying art throughout the house or in specific rooms? What kind of space do you have? Large or small? Choose art according to area size. Large canvases or sculptures stand out spectacularly in large areas and small artworks are more effective in small areas. Go for art that is appropriate to the purpose of the room – you don’t have to hang still-life works of food in the kitchen, but you’d be surprised how well they work there!
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 15 – 21
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.
15. When deciding on art for your home, the most important thing is to choose ………………
16. The style you choose will depend on what kind of …………….. you want in the room.
17. It will be easier for you to choose if you …………….. with forms, genres and styles of art.
18. You should be particularly careful when dealing in art ………………
19. Reproductions are a good option if you have ………………
20. Before deciding you need to take accoount of …………….. as well as what fits with the style of your home.
21 If you’re buying for investment or pleasure, go for something you ………………
IELTS General Reading Test
Read the text and answer Questions 22 – 27.
Understanding Art
Art is anything that people add to their ‘output’ which is not functionally necessary and is other than the default properties of that output. The word “art” has been derived from the Latin word ‘ars’, which, loosely translated, means “arrangement” or “to arrange”. This is the only universal definition of art, that whatever it is was at some point arranged in some way. There are many other colloquial uses of the word, all with some relation to its etymological roots. This word comes from the Greek technic meaning art.
Art and science are usually treated diagonally opposite to each other. While science means some phenomenon resulting in truth, which is objective in nature. In other words, scientific findings can be repeated under the same set of circumstances anywhere in the world at any given point of time. The same cannot be said of art. Art, on the other hand is purely subjective in nature. Take for example, a painting – while one calls it a masterpiece, the same feelings cannot be expected from other individuals.
IELTS General Reading Test
Art can roughly be divided into two, namely philosophical art and aesthetic art. The philosophical type of art involves human figures for some purposeful actions. In other words, philosophical art depicts human condition.
Aesthetic art, on the other hand, shows the perceived frame of mind. Two examples will help illustrate these two points of view – a Mona Lisa painting is philosophical art, while a demon being killed by a super human is aesthetic. These two categories are also called classical and modern art respectively.
There are other ways of classifying art – major among them being architecture, design, painting, music, drawing, literature, performing art, etc. While these have been (and still are) traditional forms of art performed by human kind, newer forms of art have emerged with the advent of technology. Some of the later era art forms are games, animation, movie, computer art, shooting, etc.
IELTS General Reading Test
Two of the most researched areas of interest to artists, critiques and archaeologists has been the art movement (or art history) and art school. An art movement is a typical style or tendency in art with a specific common philosophy, followed by a group of artists during a restricted period of time (which ranges from a few months to years or decades). Art school is any educational institute offering education to its students on various forms of art.
The birth of art gave rise to another group of individuals – art critics. Art critics study and evaluate a piece of art. Their main purpose is to rationalize the evaluation of art, and ridding of any personal opinion affecting the work of art. Art criticism today deploys systematic and formal methods to evaluate the piece of art.
Museums are known to nurture and store work of arts across the world. Early era museums were patronized by the then kings and emperors. Today these are maintained by governments or private trusts with or without public money. Three major museum institutes are British Museum, Museum of Modern Art, New York and Galerie des Offices in France.
IELTS General Reading Test
Questions 22 – 27
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.
22. A clear distinction between art and science is that the latter is …………….. .
23. ‘Drawing’ can be defined as a …………….. form of art.
24. An art movement is defined by its ………………
25. The period of time an art movement covers …………….. considerably.
26. An art critic …………….. different systems in their evaluations of art.
27. Museums today are sometimes financed by …………….. bodies.
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS ARE BELOW
IELTS General Reading Test
ANSWERS
15. WHAT YOU LIKE
16. MOOD
17. ACQUAINT YOURSELF
18. ONLINE
19. A LIMITED BUDGET
20. YOUR LIFESTYLE
21. CAN LIVE WITH
22. OBJECTIVE
23. TRADITIONAL
24. PHILOSOPHY
25. RANGES
26. DEPLOYS
27. PUBLIC
IELTS General Reading Test