A New York Review Books Original
One of Honoré de Balzac's most celebrated tales, "The Unknown Masterpiece" is the story of a painter who, depending on one's perspective, is either an abject failure or a transcendental genius-or both. The story, which has served as an inspiration to artists as various as Cézanne, Henry James, Picasso, and New Wave director Jacques Rivette, is, in critic Dore Ashton's words, a "fable of modern art."
Published here in a new translation by poet Richard Howard, "The Unknown Masterpiece" appears, as Balzac intended, with "Gambara," a grotesque and tragic novella about a musician undone by his dreams.
| ISBN: | 9780940322745 |
| Publication date: | 1st May 2001 |
| Author: | Honoré de Balzac, Richard Howard |
| Publisher: | New York Review Books |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 135 pages |
| Series: | NYRB Classics |
| Genres: |
General Fiction Classic fiction: general and literary Narrative theme: Interior life |