"Problems of Art" Summary

Attorney Corliss Milford is uncomfortable sitting in thin, severe, orderly Mary Farragot's apartment, waiting for her to return from an errand. The brief notes he has jotted on her personal life tell him his client is neat and restrained, but her living room seems like a sound stage, too calculated. Milford dislikes Mrs. Farragot's Sacred Heart of Jesus painting, a dime-store rendition of a mystery cannot improve a poor black woman's bleak existence. His notes show she is born in Virginia, has lived many years in Los Angeles, and is widowed but collects no Social Security from her husband. She is also a teetotaler arrested for DUI. Two weeks demanding a white lawyer has made her notorious at Project Gratis. It is now 11:45 AM and the hearing starts at 1:30 PM. Milford scans the living room, taking in...