An American museum of East Asian art reviewed its acquisitions strategy in 2009. As part of that review, a marketing...

OWNING THE DATASET

Visual Representation

Immediate Inferences

• Each selected work must satisfy at least one criterion from EACH recommender
• Works that only satisfy one recommender's criteria cannot be selected
• We need exactly one painting and one sculpture

UNDERSTANDING THE QUESTION

Task Analysis

• Select one painting that meets both recommenders' criteria
• Select one sculpture that meets both recommenders' criteria
• Each must satisfy at least one recommendation from the marketing executive AND at least one from the curator

PROCESSING THE SOLUTION

Critical Insight

The key constraint is the AND condition - each selected work must satisfy criteria from BOTH recommenders, not just one.

Strategic Analysis

For Painting Selection:

• Choice 1 (Girl's face, 2006):
  • Marketing exec: ✓ (painting of people)
  • Curator: ✓ (21st century)
  • QUALIFIES
• Choice 2 (Fish painting, 2002):
  • Marketing exec: ✗ (not people or landscape)
  • Curator: ✓ (21st century)
  • DOES NOT QUALIFY

For Sculpture Selection:

• Choice 4 (Abstract ceramic, 2008):
  • Marketing exec: ✓ (ceramic)
  • Curator: ✓ (21st century, abstract)
  • QUALIFIES
• Choice 5 (Fossil sculpture, 2004):
  • Marketing exec: ✗ (not ceramic or jade)
  • Curator: ✓ (21st century, abstract)
  • DOES NOT QUALIFY
• Choice 3 (Jade vase, 1849):
  • Not a sculpture, and doesn't meet curator criteria
  • DOES NOT QUALIFY

FINAL SOLUTION SYNTHESIS

Solution Path Recap

1. Identified dual requirement: each work must satisfy BOTH recommenders
2. Systematically evaluated each choice against both sets of criteria
3. Eliminated choices that only satisfied one recommender
4. Found unique qualifying painting and sculpture

Final Answer

• Painting: Painting of girl's face, in shades of blue and red, acrylic and oil on canvas, 2006
• Sculpture: Abstract sequence of interconnected curves, ceramic, 2008

Key Insights

• The AND condition between recommenders' criteria was the critical constraint
• Only one painting and one sculpture in the choice set satisfied both requirements
• This made the solution deterministic once the constraint was properly understood

Exam Strategy

• Always parse compound requirements carefully ("at least one... AND at least one...")
• Create a quick matrix to track which choices satisfy which criteria
• Eliminate non-qualifying options systematically to find the unique solution