Artist Mary Cassatt's tidy and peaceful independence in Paris is rattled when her brother's family arrives unexpectedly for a visit. With three unruly children around, Cassatt worries that her art will suffer as she prepares for an important exhibit at the prestigious Paris Salon. Instead, she finds herself inspired and her work flourishes as the children become her models. Her marriage-minded teenage niece, Katherine, who dreaded coming to Paris, decides to have some fun playing cupid. A series of forged notes brings together her "old maid" aunt and the great painter Edgar Degas. Though romance is not meant to be, a lifelong friendship begins between the two artists. Katherine eventually warms to Cassatt's modern ideas and learns to trust her heart. Likewise, the children soften Cassatt, who begins to build stronger ties with her family in America.