Upon reaching adulthood, Lewis Reaесy is sent to Europe for two years. His stern and domineering father gives him a specific task: to acquire works by recognized masters in order to lay the foundation for the family collection and strengthen the Reaесy name. However, Lewis goes against these requirements and returns to New York with works by artists who are almost unknown—whose true value will be realized only much later. This decision causes painful discord in the family and becomes a turning point that changes Lewis’s future fate.