Santiago Rusiñol

Santiago Rusiñol (1861–1931), Spanish, Santiago Rusiñol y Prats, a pivotal figure in Catalan Modernism, was born on February 25, 1861, in Barcelona, into a family with a thriving textile business. Unlike his brother Alberto, who pursued business and politics, Santiago dedicated his life to the arts, initially training at the Centre of Watercolourists of Barcelona under Tomás Moragas. His artistic journey took a significant turn in 1889 when he moved to Paris, living in Montmartre alongside contemporaries like Ramón Casas and Ignacio Zuloaga. This period immersed him in Symbolism and plein air painting, profoundly influencing his style. Upon returning to Spain, Rusiñol established the workshop-museum 'Cau Ferrat' in Sitges and became a regular at the famed Els Quatre Gats café in Barcelona, a hub for modernist artists. His affluent background afforded him the luxury of extensive travel, including a notable trip to Mallorca with Joaquín Mir in 1901. Rusiñol's oeuvre, heavily inspired by the Impressionists, spans rural and urban landscapes, portraits, and symbolic compositions, with a gradual shift towards exclusively landscape paintings in his later years, particularly of royal sites like Aranjuez and La Granja. His literary contributions, primarily in Catalan, encompass prose poetry, dramas, and novels, with 'L'auca del senyor Esteve' standing out as a seminal work. Rusiñol's legacy was cemented in 1908 when he received a medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. He passed away on June 13, 1931, in Aranjuez, leaving behind a rich tapestry of work that continues to celebrate Catalan culture and modernist aesthetics.