French-American artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, from the age of 23, is a model and an aspiring actor who is married and has a two year old daughter. Together, they flee the U.S. during the oppressive McCarthy era and come to France, where they experience a short-lived euphoria. Soon, distant and frightening memories begin to emerge in Niki’s mind. Her vocation as an artist will be her salvation.

André Masson, an auctioneer at Scottie’s, receives a letter from a lawyer claiming that a common worker in the suburbs of Mulhouse owns a painting by Egon Schiele. André’s first reaction is to believe that it can only be a fake. He decides to make the trip to Mulhouse anyway and against all odds, the painting turns out to be a masterpiece gone missing in 1939. This could undoubtedly be the turning point of his career, but after a brief investigation, he realizes that he has in his hands a looted work of art.