The Unknown Masterpiece

One of Honore 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 Cezanne, 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.