The Artist's Dilemma

In the artist's studio, he is asleep in his chair. A large, old-fashioned clock opens, and a young lady emerges, awakening the artist and asking him to paint her portrait. As the artist works on the painting, a clown appears from the clock, observes the situation, and begins to flirt with the lady. The artist notices and stops him. The clown then asks the artist to let him paint, and using a whitewash brush, he smears the canvas, producing a perfect image of the young lady. The image steps out of the frame, joins the lady in the studio, and the two, identical in appearance, begin to dance, much to the artist's astonishment. The clown waves his hand, causing the two figures to merge into one. The artist then resumes his seat and awakens in shock. The film was a Vitagraph production, but later acquired and copyrighted by the Edison Company.