The Unknown Masterpiece

Honoré de Balzac’s novella “The Unknown Masterpiece” is devoted to the conflict between the truth of life and the truth of art, and tells of humanity’s all-consuming drive toward creative perfection. For more than ten years, the brilliant painter Frenhofer has been working on his painting, trying to create a living woman on canvas using paints. But his obsession with form and the desire to replace reality with art leads to an unexpected ending.