During the Cold War, the U.S. government is determined to fight Communism with culture. In 1964, Alice Denney, Washington insider and friend of the Kennedys, recommends the ambitious curator Alan Solomon to organize the U.S. entry for the Venice Biennale. Together with powerful New York art dealer Leo Castelli, they embark on a daring plan to make yet-to-be-famous Texas artist Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the Grand Prize. Crafting maneuvers that could be from a Hollywood thriller, the American team leaves the international press crying foul, and Rauschenberg questioning the politics of nationalism that sent him there.