The Credeaux Canvas focuses on Jamie, Winston, and Amelia, a trio of friends, struggling artists all, who decide raise some cash by conning a wealthy widow into buying a forged painting attributed to a little-known 19th-century French artist. The widow is convinced, presciently as it turns out, that the artist, Credeaux, is ripe for a retrospective. The plan goes horribly awry,and although the Credeaux canvas may be a fake, it tells Jamie and his friends far more about themselves than they can stand to know.