George Sand on creating a masterpiece (and luck)

“Masterpieces are only lucky attempts.”
— George Sand

The French writer George Sand — born Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil, she adopted a pen name and a style for dressing to put her as an equal with men — experienced masterpieces. Her own, plus those of artists she met in 19th century Paris, not the least of whom was Frederic Chopin.

The words appear in one of her novels, François the Waif, or in the original French, François le Champi.

I like the insight here, and how it can be interpreted a few ways. Sand might be sniffing that someone just got lucky and achieved great art, but I think the word “attempts” is significant here. If you don’t try, you can’t achieve.

Indeed, a bit more of the dialogue in context sheds light: “But you must still try, although you are sure of not succeeding; masterpieces are only lucky attempts. You may console yourself for not achieving masterpieces, provided that your attempts are conscientious.”

The story of George Sand and Frederic Chopin’s relationship was the subject of the 1991 film Impromptu, an art-house hit in the era, and a showcase for Judy Davis as the obsessive Sand. A pre-Four Weddings Hugh Grant played Chopin, with even wavier hair than normal.

If you haven’t seen the film, do try to locate it; it’s worth the time, and features an impressive cast, including Mandy Patinkin, Emma Thompson (a bit of a scene-stealer here), Bernadette Peters and Julian Sands.