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"An Unknown Masterpiece" centers on a neophyte painter visiting the studio of a master artist. In it are the deepest reflections I have yet found in Balzac about the nature of art. Balzac clearly thought very deeply on theoretical questions about the nature of art. The narrator of the story may have meant only the visual arts but I had to apply what was said to Balzac's fiction. As I read more of and about Balzac I see a man driven at times to write as fast as he could, not just for the money he badly needed but by his inner demons. I also see an artist of supreme talent who shaped the direction of the novel throughout the world.
The conversations in "An Unknown Masterpiece" of the master painter show the intermingling of artistic creativity with sexuality. In Balzac's pre-camera era, painters of portraits could become super stars. The master painter sees the portrait of a partially clad beautiful woman as seemingly almost sexually magnetic. Pushed it seems there is a sexual element to creativity in Balzac's mind. "The Unknown Masterpiece" very much depicts a male dominated theory of creativity. The idea of a woman painter reacting to her work as the male painter does simply would not work. We also have the deep rooted conflation of beautiful women with goodness. I have talked about issues related to beauty in women as perceived by Balzac before and maybe I will again.
According to my post read research, this story influenced Picasso, Cezzane and new wave film directors in the 1930s.