One of Honore de Balzac's most celebrated tales, The Unknown Masterpiece is the story of a painter who, depending on one's perspective, is either an abject failure or a transcendental genius-or both. The story, which has served as an inspiration to artists as various as Cezanne, Henry James, Picasso, and New Wave director Jacques Rivette, is, in critic Dore Ashton's words, a "fable of modern art."