UNKNOWN MASTERPIECE, THE

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'.