µ˙ MFAH Book Club Fall 2014 Selection

The Masterpiece by Émile Zola

Suggested edition: Oxford World’s Classics, 2008.

The 1886 novel The Masterpiece is set in France during the Second Empire, from 1852 to 1870, under the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III. Émile Zola imparts the story of naturalist painter Claude Lantier, who lives in a Bohemian world. Lantier strives to complete a masterpiece that reflects his talent and genius as a revolutionary, but he struggles to live up to his artistic potential. Though brilliant, Lantier is misunderstood and scorned by the art-going public because of their expectations for traditional subjects and styles.

Zola's novel explores the rise of Realism, naturalism, and Impressionism in painting, along with contemporaneous developments in sculpture, literature, architecture, music, and journalism.

The novel is: • book fourteen of Émile Zola’s twenty-book series called Les Rougon-Macquart. Each of the novels stands alone, and each exemplifies French naturalism.

• believed to be a highly fictionalized account of Zola's friendship with painter Paul Cézanne. It was, perhaps, too personal for Cézanne, who ended his correspondence with Zola soon after receiving a copy of the novel as a gift from the novelist.

How to Use this Book Discussion Guide How to Book an MFAH Book Club Tour Creating bridges between the literary and visual arts is For book clubs and other groups of six or more confirmed what makes the MFAH Book Club unique. All art arises participants, tours related to Émile Zola’s The Masterpiece from the context of its time. The discussion guides feature are available September 2–December 30, 2014, on Tuesdays questions about the book and works of art in the Museum at 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.; Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. collections and exhibitions—and sometimes works of art and 3:30 p.m.; Thursdays at 10:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and from museums around the world—based on four broad 6:30 p.m.; and Sundays, 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Tours themes directly related to Émile Zola’s The Masterpiece. are led by docents and feature excerpts from the novel and Discuss the questions with your book club, then bring discussions about works of art on view at the Museum. your group (and your copy of the book) for an MFAH Book Club tour! For more information, please visit mfah.org/bookclub. Please e-mail [email protected] with any questions.

1 The Evolution of Paris Paris, in the nineteenth century, was evolving from a medieval town into a modern city. The changing face of Paris was, in many cases, due to modern technology: gas lamps, glass-and-steel construction, the railroad, steamships, and more.

What do you think of Claude’s sentiments (p. 129) when he spoke with the architect Dubuche? “Down with the Greek temples; there was no use or place for them in modern society. Down with the Gothic cathedrals; belief in legends was dead! Down, too, with the delicate colonades and the intricate tracery of the Renaissance, that Classical revival crossed with medieval art, which produced architectural jewels but could never house democracy!”

Consider how these three paintings in different styles depict Paris.

Left to right: Armand Guillaumin, View of the Seine, Paris, 1871, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck.; Henri Rousseau, The Eiffel Tower, c. 1898, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck.; Maximilien Luce, Rue Ravignan, Paris, 1893, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck. © 2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

How does Zola contrast the city of Paris with the countryside? (Recall that Claude and Christine experienced their only moments of happiness in nature.) Also discuss the importance of painting en plein air (in open air, or out of doors) for the Impressionists.

The Evolution of Painting The visual artists described in The Masterpiece strived for acceptance into the annual Salon de Paris, but many were refused. From Zola’s writing, what were some reasons why artists were included or excluded from the Salon?

View these two paintings at the Museum, and discuss the following two questions: 1. Would these paintings have been acceptable or unacceptable for the Salon? 2. Which of these two paintings do you imagine could represent Christine in the role of mother, had her son lived?

DID YOU KNOW? Berthe Morisot (1841–1895) and her sister, Edma Morisot, were taught by Jean-Baptiste- Camille Corot, the renowned Barbizon School painter, who introduced them to en plein air painting. In 1864, at the age of 23, Berthe showed for the first time in the Salon de Paris, and continued to show regularly in the Salon until 1873, Left to right: William-Adolphe Bouguereau, The Elder Sister, 1869, oil on canvas, the Museum when her affiliation with the Impressionists of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of an Anonymous Lady in led to changes in her painting techniques. memory of her father.; Berthe Morisot, The Basket Chair, 1882, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck.

2 Artists Struggle: Success versus Broken Dreams

Zola wrote to Paul Cézanne, “There are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsman. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman.” (Letter to Paul Cézanne, 16 April 1860, published in Paul Cézanne: Letters, 1995, edited by John Rewald.)

Does this apply to Claude Lantier? Of the other artists included in The Masterpiece, who in your mind was “born a poet” and who “became a craftsman”?

The Masterpiece is often described as semiautobiographical, with Pierre Sandoz as a stand-in for Zola himself and Claude Lantier as a stand-in for Cézanne.

Do you believe the following words by Sandoz (p. 259) are actually Zola being creative for the sake of the novel, or speaking truthfully of himself—and why? “From the moment I start a new novel, life’s just one endless torture. The first few chapters may go fairly well and I may feel there’s still a chance to prove my worth, but that feeling soon disappears and every day I feel less and less satisfied. I begin to say the book’s no good, far inferior to my earlier ones, until I’ve wrung torture out of every page, every sentence, every word, and the very commas begin to look excruciatingly ugly. Then, when it’s finished, what a relief! Not the blissful delight of the gentleman who goes into ecstasies over his own production, but the resentful relief of a porter dropping a burden that’s nearly broken his back…”

Why do you think Cézanne did not speak to Zola after reading The Masterpiece?

Cézanne received the harshest critical commentary of all the Impressionists and, perhaps as a result, he was not a commercial success. The slightly younger Vincent van Gogh never sold a single painting during his lifetime, and was financially dependent upon his brother, Theo, an art dealer. Consider these two paintings in the MFAH collection, and discuss why some artists simply never achieve commercial success.

DID YOU KNOW? Though Cézanne submitted paintings to the Salon de Paris many times he was rejected many times. and paintings he exhibited with the Impressionists were ridiculed by art critics. Nevertheless, during his lifetime, younger artists considered Cézanne a master, and he had many visitors to his studio in Aix en Provence.

Left to right: Paul Cézanne, Bottom of the Ravine, c. 1879, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck.; Vincent van Gogh, The Rocks, 1888, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, gift of Audrey Jones Beck.

Who among Claude and his friends succumbed to familial and peer pressure, and who remained true to their personal vision and self-expression? What compromises did Claude and his friends make in their artistic pursuits, if any?

What do you think is more satisfying: the struggle and journey toward achieving success, or actually achieving success?

3 Tragic Lives, Tragic Art

Do you believe Claude loved Christine or did he love the idea of having Christine in his life? At the end of her life, do you believe Christine would have "followed" Claude through his life? Why or why not?

What role does Jacques play in their lives? Where was Christine’s maternal instinct directed? Toward Jacques or toward Claude?

Would you characterize Christine’s life as “tragic”? Why or why not? What choices did Christine make that you might make differently? Do you believe Zola named her Christine—meaning “follower of Christ”—for a reason?

The MFAH collection has many works depicting tragic narratives. Consider how these two works/narratives compare to Claude Lantier’s life and work:

When Meleager was born, the Fates predicted he would only live until a brand, burning in the family hearth, was consumed by fire. Immediately, his mother doused and hid the brand. Once grown, Meleager’s father sent him to gather heroes from all over Greece to hunt the Calydonian boar that was terrorizing the region. Meleager also chose Atalanta, a huntress, whom he loved. Atalanta wounded the boar and Meleager killed it. He awarded Atalanta the hide since she drew first blood, but his brother and uncle were enraged the prize went to a woman. In the Roman, Sarcophagus Front, The Return of the Body of Meleager ensuing argument, Meleager killed them. When his mother discovered to Kalydon, late Severan period, 220–230 A.D., marble, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by he had killed her brother and one of her sons, she placed the brand the Agnes Cullen Arnold Endowment Fund upon the fire, fulfilling the prophecy by killing Meleager, her own son.

On the night that Orpheus, a renowned bard, and Eurydice married, Eurydice was bitten by a snake and died. Overcome with grief, Orpheus traveled to the underworld to bring her back to life. He convinced Hades and Persephone to let Eurydice go, but her release came with a catch: Eurydice must walk behind him as they ascend, with Orpheus forbidden to look at her until they exit the underworld. Overcome by passion for Eurydice, Orpheus turned to look at her beauty as he passed the threshold…and she was immediately trapped in the underworld forever. Orpheus was devastated (again) and roamed around Greece playing sad songs.

DID YOU KNOW? Corot, with his father's help, apprenticed to a draper, which he quickly discovered he hated, especially what he called "business tricks." However, he remained in the trade until Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Orpheus Leading Eurydice from his father consented to his adopting the art profession at age 26. the Underworld, 1861, oil on canvas, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum purchase funded by the Agnes Cullen Arnold Corot explained, "I told my father that business and I were simply Endowment Fund. incompatible, and that I was getting a divorce."

Only two of Claude’s friends, Sandoz and Bongrand, attend his funeral. Why do you think that might be?

Which other characters in the novel would you describe as "tragic"—and why?

Why do you believe Zola did not write a story about a successful artist?

4 About the Author

Émile Zola (1840–1902) was one of the most famous and controversial figures in French literature. Zola was born in Paris, the only child of an Italian-born father and a French mother. When Zola was about nine years old, his father died, leaving his mother in dire financial straits. After failing to pass the baccalaureate examinations, Zola lived the next two years in abject poverty while trying to secure stable employment. (Naturally, this period informed his later writings.)

After obtaining a clerical position, he wrote and published poetry on the side. After several poems were received well by critics and the public, he was able to devote himself full time to literary endeavors. Between 1862 and 1877, Zola struggled, publishing a novel nearly every year. Not until the publication of L’Assommoir in 1877—the seventh book of his twenty-book series, Les Rougon-Macquart—did Zola achieve fame, profiting greatly from his writings. The series, considered a great contribution to French literature, especially for its Émile Zola naturalism, depicts various aspects of life and society under the Second Empire in France.

In his later life, Zola became a champion of many causes, most notably publishing an open letter, titled J’Accuse, in which he addressed President of France Félix Faure and accused the government of anti-Semitism and the unlawful jailing of Alfred Dreyfus, a French army general staff officer who was sentenced to lifelong penal servitude for espionage.

“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, I will answer you: I am here to live out loud!”

– Émile Zola

The MFAH Book Club receives generous support from Aggie and Joe Foster.

All education programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, receive endowment income from funds provided by Caroline Wiess Law; The National Endowment for the Humanities; the William Randolph Hearst Foundation; the Fondren Foundation; BMC Software, Inc.; the Wallace Foundation; the Louise Jarrett Moran Bequest; the Neal Myers and Ken Black Children’s Art Fund; the Favrot Fund; and Gifts in honor of Beth Schneider.

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