The young artist enters into the bohemian cafe society of 19th-century Paris, meeting the contemporaries with whom he is to found a new artistic movement, only for revolution to tear the group apart.

Cezanne is forced to lead a double life with his mistress and secret child, and refuses to compromise his vision in the face of vitriol from both the critics and a close friend. Manet receives the Legion d'Honneur, but his health is failing fast. Monet embarks on a successful tour of Europe, but decides that what he really wants is to return to his beloved Alice - and the lilies that will fascinate him for the rest of his life.