Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu (The Unknown Masterpiece)

Picasso’s illustrations for Honoré de Balzac’s short story The Unknown Masterpiece included engravings, line drawings, and etchings. Balzac’s tale of a misunderstood artist who works in secret on an “unknown masterpiece,” appealed to Picasso. He made unusual line and dot drawings, which he later heightened with crayon, dedicating it to the book’s first owner, art dealer Henri Matarasso (1892–1985).