This volume brings together two classic novellas by Honoré de Balzac—The Unknown Masterpiece and Gambara—in Richard Howard’s acclaimed translation, with an introduction by Arthur C. Danto. Both tales explore the tension between artistic genius and obsession: one follows a painter in pursuit of an unattainable perfection, while the other portrays a composer devoted to music that the world around him cannot comprehend. Through these intense and dramatic portraits, Balzac reveals the fragile line between inspiration and madness, and the struggle of art against the constraints of reality in nineteenth-century France.
Pages: 160
Publication Year: 2000 (Revised Edition, NYRB Classics)
Publisher: New York Review Books
Language: English
Original Language: French
Translator: Richard Howard
Intended Age: Adult
