"Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: "The Unknown Masterpiece") is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

. It was first published in the newspaper ''

L'Artiste ''L’Artiste'' was a weekly illustrated review published in Paris from 1831 to 1904, supplying "the richest single source of contemporary commentary on artists, exhibitions and trends from the Romanticism, Romantic era to the end of the ninetee ...

'' with the title "Maître Frenhofer" (English: "Master Frenhofer") in August

1831 Events January–March * January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing '' The Liberator'', an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts. * January 10 – Japanese department store, Takashimaya in Kyoto estab ...

. It appeared again later in the same year under the title "Catherine Lescault, conte fantastique". It was published in Balzac's ''Études philosophiques'' in

1837 Events January–March * January 1 – The destructive Galilee earthquake causes thousands of deaths in Ottoman Syria. * January 26 – Michigan becomes the 26th state admitted to the United States. * February 4 – Seminoles attack Fo ...

and was integrated into ''

La Comédie humaine (; English: ''The Human Comedy'') is Honoré de Balzac's 1829–48 multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society in the period of the Restoration (1815–30) and the July Monarchy (1830–48). ''La Com� ...

'' in

1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway's bridge, over the Venetian Lagoon betwee ...

. The work is separated into two chapters: "Gillette" and "Catherine Lescault". "Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu" is a reflection on art, and has had an important influence on modernist artists.

Plot summary

Young

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

, as yet unknown, visits the painter Porbus in his workshop. He is accompanied by the old master Frenhofer, who comments expertly on the large tableau that Porbus has just finished. The painting is of

Mary of Egypt Mary of Egypt (; ; ; Amharic/Geʽez, Geez: ቅድስት ማርያም ግብፃዊት) was an Egyptians, Egyptian Grazers (Christianity), grazer saint dwelling in Palestine (region), Palestine during late antiquity or the Early Middle Ages. She is ...

, and while Frenhofer sings her praises, he hints that the work seems unfinished. With some slight touches of the paintbrush, Frenhofer transforms Porbus' painting such that Mary the Egyptian appears to come alive before their very eyes. Although Frenhofer has mastered his technique, he admits that he has been unable to find a suitable model for his own masterpiece, which depicts a beautiful courtesan called Catherine Lescault, known as ''La Belle noiseuse''. He has been working on this future masterpiece that no one has yet seen for ten years. Poussin offers his own lover, Gillette, as a model. Gillette is so beautiful that Frenhofer is inspired to finish his project quickly. Poussin and Porbus come to admire the painting, but all they can see is part of a foot that has been lost in a swirl of colors. Their disappointment drives Frenhofer to madness, and he burns his paintings and dies that night.

Historical background

Unlike most other stories in ''La Comédie humaine'', this is set in the 17th century, in the year 1612. Of the three artists depicted in this story, Poussin and Porbus were real artists of the 17th century. Frenhofer is a purely fictional character, allegedly the only pupil of Mabuse. In the case of Porbus, Balzac used the gallicized version of the surname of Frans Pourbus.

Influence on artists

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

strongly identified with Frenhofer, once saying "Frenhofer, c'est moi" (I am Frenhofer). Critic Jon Kear argues that Cézanne's own attempts to paint the nude were heavily influenced by Balzac's portrayal of Frenhofer's work. In 1927,

Ambroise Vollard Ambroise Vollard (; 3 July 1866 – 21 July 1939) was a French art dealer who is regarded as one of the most important dealers in French contemporary art at the beginning of the twentieth century. He is credited with being a major supporter an ...

asked

Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

to illustrate "Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu". Picasso was fascinated by the text and identified with Frenhofer so much that he moved to the rue des Grands-Augustins in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where Balzac located Porbus' studio. There he painted his own masterpiece, ''

Guernica Guernica (, ), officially Gernika () in Basque, is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the municipality of Gernika-Lumo ...

''. Picasso lived here during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Adaptations

Sidney Peterson Sidney Peterson (November 15, 1905 – April 24, 2000), was an American writer, artist, avant-garde filmmaker, and educator. He founded the first film courses at the California School of Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art Institute) in 1947. Bio ...

's 1949 avant-garde film ''Mr Frenhofer and the Minotaur'' was based on the link between the short story and the work of Picasso. It draws on Picasso's '' Minotauromachy'', bringing Picasso's work to life with the characters of Gillette, Poussin and Porbus participating. "Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu" inspired the film ''

La Belle Noiseuse ''La Belle Noiseuse'' (, ) is a 1991 drama film directed by Jacques Rivette and starring Michel Piccoli, Jane Birkin and Emmanuelle Béart. Loosely adapted from the 1831 short story '' Le Chef-d'œuvre inconnu'' (''The Unknown Masterpiece'') by ...

'' by

Jacques Rivette Jacques Rivette (; 1 March 1928 – 29 January 2016) was a French film director and film critic most commonly associated with the French New Wave and the film magazine '' Cahiers du Cinéma''. He made twenty-nine films, including '' L'Amour fo ...

(

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

), and is mentioned in a scene of Rivette's

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes due to th ...

.Codruţa Morari (2017), ''The Bressonians: French Cinema and the Culture of Authorship'' (Berghahn Books; ISBN 180539424X), pp. 155-56.

References

External links

"The Unknown Masterpiece", translation (by Ellen Marriage?) at Project Gutenberg (full text)

*

* (In English)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chef-Doeuvre Inconnu 1831 short stories Books of La Comédie humaine Fiction set in 1612 French short stories adapted into films Short stories by Honoré de Balzac Works originally published in L'Artiste