Clara immerses herself in the work of redesigning the Studebaker Dictator’s interior and its advertising campaign while continuing to make regular welfare visits to Levon’s studio, bringing food and avoiding any discussion of art.

On a hot afternoon, Clara lets herself in with a spare key and draws Levon out by asking about his father. Levon describes his father’s flight from persecution, sharing a grim childhood memory of his father starting a new family in the United States and disowning Levon when he and his sister finally immigrated there. Clara is relieved when she sees that Levon’s mood is gradually improving. When Levon despairs over his unfinished portrait of his mother, Clara proposes they go out: Mr. Lorette has asked her to consult on the gallery space at the Heckscher Building, where three society women are establishing a museum of modern art. The implication that Lorette chose her and not him provokes Levon’s competitiveness, and he agrees to come.

Clara arrives at the gallery around the same time that Felix Hornsby, a prominent art dealer, happens to visit; Clara secures his interest by mentioning Oliver’s mother, a recent customer of Hornsby’s. The gallery attendant shows them a newly arrived Vincent Van Gogh painting entitled Madame Ginoux.