Reading Comprehension

PT147 · S2 · P2 · Q11 Eileen Grey

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one
Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step
81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Best known for her work with lacquer, Eileen Gray (1878–1976) had a fascinating and multifaceted artistic career: she became a designer of ornaments, furniture, interiors, and eventually homes.

Topic

Eileen Gray's innovative development as an artist and designer, from lacquer work to architecture, focusing on her integration of form, function, and detail.

Framework

Highlight Noteworthy

Main Point

Eileen Gray's career demonstrates a seamless progression from detailed lacquer work to furniture, interior, and architectural design, always unified by her attention to both aesthetics and function—blurring boundaries between art, furniture, and architecture. ()

P1: Introduction and Artistic Sensibility

We get introduced to Gray's career and her specialization in lacquer, which matched her taste for straight lines and simple forms, in opposition to Art Nouveau's curves. The passage emphasizes her love for detail and her process of layering lacquer, a demanding art form.

P2: From Lacquer to Furniture—Functional Complexity

This paragraph discusses the structural challenges of lacquer work, noting Gray’s shift from flat panels to dynamic screens that serve as both art and architecture. It then details her move into furniture design, highlighting how she crafted functional, minimalist pieces often tailored for specific spaces, using modern materials.

P3: The Move to Architecture and Integration of Interiors/Exteriors

Finally, the passage explores how Gray’s philosophy evolved into architecture, emphasizing her belief in the inseparability of interior and exterior design. Her architectural work mirrored her lacquer sensibility: layered, interconnected, and functional, with innovations that dissolve the boundary between inside and outside.

11.

Information in the passage most helps to answer which one of the following questions?

When did the tradition of
Too Strong: first
We can check the 1st paragraph; all we've got on this topic is this: In Paris she studied the Japanese tradition of lacquer. It s a time-consuming craft, then little known in Europe So we have no idea when it first became known in Europe.
1% picked this
What types of wood are
Too Strong: best
We don't hear about any different types of wood in the passage, so we know the passage doesn't answer this superlative question about which type of wood is the best.
1% picked this
Correct
Were the artistic motifs of
Why this is right
The passage supports the answer "no" to this answer. The final sentence of the first paragraph says, The tradition of lacquer fit well with her artistic sensibilities, as Gray eschewed the flowing, leafy lines of the Art Nouveau movement. The verb "eschewed" means "to reject / to avoid". Clearly stylistic traits of the tradition of lacquer had to be pretty distinct from those of Art Nouveau. Otherwise, it would be silly for her to have "rejected Art Nouveau in favor of traditional lacquer, which fit better with her artistic sensibilities". If they were similar, then she would have liked them both or not liked them both.
Skill tested: Five Questions · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
66% picked this
Did Gray allow the style
Out of Scope: landscape
We know that Gray's architectural style cared about exterior elements of the house (the yard / fountains / plants / etc) meshing well with interior elements of the house. But this answer is asking whether she would be influenced by the landscape that surrounded the building site, so landscape features that go beyond the yard / plot of land where the house is being designed. We never heard that we was influenced by other houses on the block, or the type of ecosystem or habitat that her houses existed within.
12% picked this
What is a material that
Out of Scope: superior strength
This answer seems to be fishing for us to answer by saying "Ooh! Ooh! Is it tubular steel?" But we were never told that tubular steel had superior strength or was used for that purpose. From the end of the 2nd paragraph, it sounds like it may have been used because it was visually austere. We also never hear about how tubular steel visually interacts with any other material.
20% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill

LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free