Soon-to-be-legendary primitivist painter and outsider artist Séraphine "de Senlis" Louis (Yolande Moreau) toils as a maidservant in the homes of the bourgeoisie in Senlis, France. For decades, Louis harbors a secret passion for painting in the evenings after work -- one that is discovered serendipitously by renowned German art collector Wilhelm Uhde (Ulrich Tukur). Taken by the woman's enormous talent, Uhde becomes determined to bring Louis' art to the world -- and to change her life.