For many years, artists have flocked to Paris, France, to paint or to learn to paint. Perhaps artists first went there because of the city’s beauty. They went to paint pictures of the broad tree-lined streets, the great churches, and the graceful river bridges. The artists felt comfortable in Paris because the people of the city had always enjoyed art. Paris had great art museums, filled with famous paintings and statues from many countries. And the people of Paris had always welcomed new ideas. In this city artists felt free to experiment with new ways of painting. As soon as famous artists painted in Paris, students came to learn them. People came to buy paintings. Men called art dealers set up galleries where paintings could be bought and sold. Others kept shops that sold artists’ paints and supplies. Students and the artists who were not yet famous could live in Paris for very little money. They learned by studying great art in the museums, and they learned from one another. They held art fairs, hanging their paintings outdoors along the streets.
Today, New York City and Florence, Italy, are also famous art centers. But the world’s principal art exhibits are still held in Paris. Important judges of art live there. Most of the new ways of painting that have started in the last hundred years began in Paris. So artists and art dealers still go to Paris because it is the world’s leading art center.
1. Artists first went to Paris because .
2. Artists still go to Paris now because .
3. The main idea of the story is about .
4. The story leads us to believe .
5. The story does not say so, but it makes us think .
