A young and talented art student John Talia befriends a once famous and brilliant painter, now an elderly alcoholic.

For an eighteen-year-old this is a great opportunity to learn as much as possible from the master. The old man, for whom life was unfavorable, is at first uncooperative, but with the passage of time the teenager gives him back the will and joy of life. They both learn from each other a different way of looking at the world: Seroff - with eyes full of innocence and faith, John - looking through the prism of many years, sometimes many years of experience.
The story is based on real events