The artist's work, though technically proficient, was criticized for being ______ — it reproduced reality with painstaking detail but lacked any imaginative vitality or transcendent vision.
Correct: C
Anodyne means lacking sharpness, edge, or excitement; something that is dull and inoffensive. The sentence describes work that is technically good but devoid of imagination and vision, which perfectly matches the meaning of anodyne. Pedantic refers to excessive concern with minor details and rules, iconoclastic means attacking or criticizing cherished beliefs or institutions, and meretricious means superficially attractive but having no real value or integrity — none of these capture the lack of imaginative vitality described.