Hancock plays a disaffected London office clerk who gives up his office job to pursue full-time his vocation as an artist. Single-mindedly, and with an enthusiasm far exceeding any artistic talent, he sets to work on his supposed masterpiece ''Aphrodite at the Waterhole'', moving to Paris where he expects his genius will be appreciated. While his ideas and persona gain acceptance (indeed plaudits) among the "Beat generation" set, legitimate art critics, like Sir Charles Broward (George Sanders), scoff at his work. He manages to achieve success, however, when the work of his former roommate, a genuinely talented painter, becomes confused with his own. The confusion is eventually resolved after a series of art exhibitions, and he returns to London, where he pursues his 'art' in defiance of whatever others may think of it.