The Art Forger

“I especially like windows on late winter afternoons before anyone inside notices and snaps the blinds shut.”

This line reveals Claire’s interest in knowing the truth beyond the surface. She loves painting windows partly because of the light they give off, but also because to her, a window gives a view into a separate, private world.

“There’s illegal and there’s illegal.”

Markel uses this line to justify his plan to commit forgery. He admits that the plan is illegal but argues that the legality is irrelevant because it is the moral thing to do, evidence of Moral Compromise as a Consequence of Ambition.

“So I began to paint, using Issac’s brushes, Issac’s oils, Issac’s series, and Issac’s style.”

Claire’s work as a forger starts when she creates a painting under Issac’s name. The scene where she starts the painting shows her falling in love not only with Issac himself, but with the idea of becoming someone else entirely while painting.