Ezekiel Harrington is a struggling Philadelphia gallery owner just before the turn of the Twentieth century. A chance encounter reconnects him with a childhood friend, Robert Henri, who is now studying art. Henri introduces Ezekiel to a cadre of fellow striving artists. Among them is a crude Bohemian woman of tremendous talent. Ezekiel despises her crude ways, yet can’t get her out of his mind.

His gallery is barely hanging on and nears bankruptcy. But an unusual request for a portrait comes in. The customer wanting the work is a member of high Philadelphia society and insists the Bohemian woman is the only one who will paint it. She has nowhere for the sittings but Ezekiel’s gallery. He doesn’t want anything to do with the deal until he hears the terms of the deal.

It is on the shoulders of this unforgettable woman, that his fortunes begin to take a remarkable turn.

As he bumbles his way through turn-of-the century Philadelphia and Paris, his feelings for the unacceptable woman thrust him on an intense and painful course.