His Masterpiece by Émile Zola

L'OEUVRE, published in 1886, is the fourteenth volume of Emile Zola's Rougon-Macquart saga. Through the life of the cursed and misunderstood painter Claude Lantier, Zola takes his readers into the world of artists. Lantier, a character reminiscent of Paul Cézanne, struggles from failure to failure. He leaves his wife Christine to indulge in a gigantic work, but leaves the canvas unfinished and commits suicide.