Rose VanDusenberg, parts 942 - 945

942. He knew Rose liked the paintings of Gauguin who was also a painter who used color in a arbitrary way. But what if it was not arbitrary, what if those real artists had access to theories and ideas which he could not understand, or even come across so as to be confounded by them. In short, he was tormented by a feeling of inadequacy. But he had no choice, he had to take has medicine, and subject himself to criticism from someone who obviously knew all about paintings.

943. As you might guess, Rose loved almost all of Coromo's paintings. She set them on the floor against a wall of the restaurant all in a row and for about five minutes she said nothing at all. After those five minutes she picked up one of the pictures and set it apart from the others, it was the 'Decent From The Cross' painting. After that she rearranged the others into sets of two or three, like a person arranging their cards in a poker game.

944. All the time Rose looked at Coromo's paintings she held her chin in her hand in a meditative pose, and with her other hand she held her elbow. Now and again Rose massaged her chin with her thumb and her forefinger. Coromo was on edge the entire time. Since he had no self-confidence, at least when it came to his pictures, he thought everything she did was an indication of her irritation and rejection of his little pictures. 

945. Now it is a well known fact among people who buy and sell pictures frequently that when a person rubs their chin with their thumb and a knuckle of the forefinger it means that they are about to purchase the picture they are looking at. If perchance they ask a question about the picture they are contemplating while rubbing said chin, the dealer knows there will be no need to offer a discount, because the sale is as good as completed.