The Masterpiece is a highly fictionalized account of Zola's friendship with the painter Paul Cezanne. Zola and Cezanne grew up together in Aix-en-Provence, the model for Zola's Plassans, where Claude Lantier is born and receives his education. Like Cezanne, Claude Lantier is a revolutionary artist whose work is misunderstood by an art-going public hidebound by traditional subjects, techniques, and representations. Zola's self-portrait can be seen in the character of the novelist Pierre Sandoz.
- ISBN10 1435384040
- ISBN13 9781435384040
- Publish Date 1 December 2007 (first published 4 June 2005)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Publish Country US
- Imprint IndyPublish.com
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 348
- Language English