The Masterpiece is a highly fictionalized account of Zolas friendship with thepainter Paul Czanne. Zola and Czanne grew up together in AixenProvence themodel fo... » 

The Masterpiece is a highly fictionalized account of Zolas friendship with thepainter Paul Czanne. Zola and Czanne grew up together in AixenProvence themodel for Zolas Plassans where Claude Lantier is born and receives hiseducation. Like Czanne Claude Lantier is a revolutionary artist whose work ismisunderstood by an artgoing public hidebound by traditional subjectstechniques and representations. Zolas selfportrait can be seen in thecharacter of the novelist Pierre Sandoz. «