Scene: The lobby of the Sunrise, a small hotel in Paris, frequented by the Impressionist painters. There are pots of paint sitting on the carpets, and a number of encrusted easels leaning against the walls.
CONCIERGE (talking to the second-floor maid, who sits primly on his knees): And you say you heard a quarrel in Monsieur Manet’s apartment?
MAID: Yes sir, a violent one. Monsieur Manet was very upset.
CONCIERGE: Do you know what he was upset about?
MAID: Yes sir, he was fighting with Monsieur Degas about black.
CONCIERGE: Black?
MAID: The colour, sir.
At this point, Edgar Degas comes storming down the stairs and into the lobby. The concierge hastily stands up, dumping the maid onto to the carpet.
DEGAS: Idiot!
CONCIERGE (all discomfiture): Why monsieur Degas!....
DEGAS (shouting back up the stairs): Black is not a colour!
MANET (from upstairs): It is the only colour!
DEGAS: Absurd! And by the way, Manet, I AM SENDING BACK YOUR PLUMS!!
(curtain)
