The Masterpiece

By: Émile Zola

Narrated by: Leighton Pugh

Perhaps the most autobiographical of Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle of novels, The Masterpiece is a hard, bleak, and raw portrait of unrecognized artistic genius. Claude Lantier, brother to Nana and son of Gervaise, is a struggling painter who dreams of conquering the Paris art scene with his revolutionary "open air" style of painting. Discouraged and mocked, Claude retreats to the countryside with a young woman from Clermont, with whom he has fallen in love, before returning to Paris, where he continues to experience rejection at every turn. Zola's depiction of a frustrated artist is said to have drawn heavily on the real-life experiences of Edouard Manet and Paul Cezanne, the latter of whom broke off his friendship with the author upon reading the novel.

Download the accompanying reference guide.Public Domain (P)2020 Naxos Audiobooks

classic fictional history of the artworld

famous tale by Zola that is said to have lead to the rupture with Cezanne

Great, but...

The narrator is great.
Strangely, certain passages of the book are not included in a few places.

Great novel , great narrator!

Fantastic! An engaging story with lifelike images. And now to continue with another masterpiece in Zola's series.

A kinder, gentler Zola

I've listened to several of Zola's novels, and this one has none of the horrific domestic violence and much less sexuality than the others. But it is still typical Emil Zola with beautifully written descriptions of France nearing the end of the 19th century and characters who will charm and amaze you.
Also because Zola is speaking the truth, the ending is quite tragic, as so much of our world always has been and is right now.

classic book, great if you know your art history.

you should know that this is the book that ruined zola and Cezanne's friendship!

also, fun and descriptive but damn it zola get words that are not "indignant", "obstinate' or "ardent". I guess it's not his fault. he's french. (kind of). good read. uhr, listen.