Serge visits Marc, his good friend, and sees the new painting he has bought: it is white with three black streaks though. Serge is very happy and confident with the painting and thinks that it is beautiful. Marc, clearly disturbed, doesn’t think so, and he gets further agitated when he hears that Sergio spent 200,000 worth of francs to buy the picture. Marc thinks that there is nothing “artistic” with the picture, and a feud begins between the two friends.
Yvan is both close friends with Serge and Marc, as they all usually spend time together. Both Serge and Marc tries to compel Yvan to form an equal opinion. Instead of choosing a side, Yvan stays neutral, as he has understood and considered both sides. Both Marc and Serge are angered by this, making the feud a problem not only between Serge and Marc, but also with Yvan.
The old friends part ways, and they consider ending their friendship. They criticize each other and the way they have acted, but in the end, they stay friends, meeting a common ground. Marc states that the painting is like “a man who moves across a space and disappears”.
