SANTIAGO RUSIÑOL (1861-1931) "Girona antiga",... Lot 48

SANTIAGO RUSIÑOL (1861-1931) "Girona antiga", ca.1908. Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower right corner. Bibliography: -COLL, Isabel, "Rusiñol". Sabadell: Ausa, 1992 (repr. p. 376). LAPLANA, Josep de C., Santiago Rusiñol. El pintor, l'home. Barcelona: L'Abadia de Montserrat, 1995 (no. 14.9). -LAPLANA, Josep de C., The painting of Santiago Rusiñol. Obra completa. Catàleg sistemàtic. Barcelona: Mediterrània, 2004 (cat. no. 14.1.12, p. 118, repr.). Exhibitions: -1981 - "Pintors de Fama", Sala Parés, Barcelona (cat.núm.18: Girona antiga). -2021 - "Travellers", Sala Parés, Barcelona (cat. no. 18: Girona antiga). Size: 76,5 x 72,5 cm; 89 x 85 cm (frame). The city of Girona and the villages of the region made a deep impression on Santiago Rusiñol. He painted the city from various perspectives, giving priority to its gardens and side views of the cathedral, as in the magnificent painting shown here. The solemn stone architecture and the foliage that meanders between the parapets and grows in groves of pines and cypresses form an autumnal scene of deep emotion. The low evening light subtly toasts the leaves, unfurling wide shades of emerald green to sienna. The cathedral is silhouetted in the distance, culminating a scene. Rusiñol gave pre-eminence to the area of the city walls, or to the old quarter and the old houses on its perimeter. This type of painting was a brilliant correlate of the articles Rusiñol published as a writer (for example, in "Girona de piedra", 1912). A painter, writer and playwright in Catalan, Rusiñol was one of the main ideologists of the Catalan modernist movement. He trained as a disciple of Tomás Moragas and frequented the Centre of Watercolourists, of which he was one of the founders. He made his debut in 1884 at the Sala Parés in Barcelona, together with his friends Ramón Casas and Enric Clarasó. In those years he made a carriage trip around Catalonia with Casas, taking sketches of types and landscapes. The year 1888 marked a turning point in his career, as he began three new activities: he published some writings in "La Vanguardia", took part in the Paris Salon and held his first individual exhibition at the Sala Parés. The following year, 1889, Rusiñol settled in Paris, in the Montmartre district, with Utrillo, Clarasó and Canudas. He attended the academy of the painter Henri Gervex, and completed his training with Puvis de Chavannes and Carrière. The ruralism he had adopted in Barcelona disappeared and his style evolved towards naturalism. He also came closer to the thematic, but not technical, approaches of the Impressionists, as well as to their desire to capture a fleeting snapshot. In 1890 he established a relationship with Sitges, where he painted some of his first courtyards and gardens, a theme that would define his later style. That same year he held his first exhibition at the Sala Parés, together with Casas and Clarasó. In 1890 he returned to Paris with Casas and Utrillo. At this time he concentrated on depicting the entertainment venues of the area, such as the Moulin de la Galette, which featured in many of his paintings. However, in 1893 he left his studio in Montmartre and moved to the Ile Saint-Louis. On his return he exhibited the paintings he produced on this trip in what was to be his first one-man show at the Salle Parés. In 1908 he was awarded the medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. He is represented in the Museo del Prado, the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña, the Museo Camón Aznar in Zaragoza and the Thyssen-Bornemisza, among others.