Le chef d'oeuvre inconnu by Balzac
Review by Anar M., Youth Reviewer
One of my favourite parts about speaking French is that I can read many French classics in their original form, rather than in translation. Balzac’s “Le chef d’œuvre inconnu” is one of those: a short story, less than sixty pages, that reflects on both art and the artist.
The three main characters are all artists: the young Nicholas Poussin (the novel is set before he became famous), the slightly older Frans Pourbus (also an actual historical painter, although a less famous one; who is active in the Parisian court during the book), and the old Maître Frenhofer, who is entirely fictional. Poussin, looking for an in with the Parisian court via Pourbus, follows Frenhofer into Pourbus’ studio. Frenhofer is some sort of mentor to Pourbus; he critiques the painting Pourbus has just created by claiming that the figures in it do not breathe. A few brushstrokes of his dramatically improve the painting.
Frenhofer is working on a masterpiece (or chef d’œuvre), and has been improving it for the past ten years; all he requires is a model of “perfect beauty” to compare it to. Poussin and Pourbus ask to see it but are refused—Frenhofer does not want it seen until his masterpiece is complete. Poussin therefore volunteers his girlfriend to serve as a model; she is reluctant to do so, but agrees for Poussin’s sake. Frenhofer approves of her, declares his masterpiece complete, and allows the two younger artists to view it.
The climax of the story comes when Poussin and Pourbus see Frenhofer’s great canvas. Several other works lying around the space draw their admiration, but Frenhofer brushes those smaller paintings off as quick studies. But when Poussin and Pourbus are shown the masterpiece, they see that it is nothing but a mess of colour—nothing identifiable as a woman, much less one who appears to live and breathe.
Balzac was writing well before the advent of abstract art—nowadays, a painting that doesn’t look like anything concrete could very well be a masterpiece. But in the novel, the overwhelming feeling is that Frenhofer’s painting—likely once incredible—has been destroyed by a decade of trying to perfect it. It’s an interesting perspective on art and perhaps life in general, and is a characteristic of Balzac.