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.
- ISBN10 0916870553
- ISBN13 9780916870553
- Publish Date February 1984
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 15 November 1991
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Creative Arts Book Company
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback
- Pages 76
- Language English