The Masterpiece

'The Masterpiece'' - is a work of a French writer and publicist E. Zola (1840 - 1902). *** The movel was written in 1886, it's the fourteenth novel in the 20-volume «les Rougon-Macquart» series. It describes the small bourgeoisie family in the Second Empire period. It's based on real life events of the author's life and his friends of youth - P. Cezanne, E. Manet, B. Bile, C. Monet and others. The author supports impressionists. The novel problematizes attitude towards reality. After the book had appeared the controversies began. In this book an advanced criticism discovered a true-life story of a poor destiny of painters, hideous exploitation of their talent.