Santiago Rusiñol

SANTIAGO RUSIÑOL I PRATS (Barcelona, 1861 - Aranjuez, Madrid, 1931).
"Garden with pond in La Granja de San Ildefonso".
Oil on canvas.
Attached certificate issued by Don Marcial Barrachina Ramoneda.
Preserves informative labels on the back of the Sala Parés (Barcelona) and the Barbié Gallery (Barcelona).
It has a carved and gilded wooden frame.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 64 x 79 cm; 91,5 x 104 cm (frame).
This work of Santiago Rusiñol that we observe represents a section of one of the monumental fountains of the garden of La Granja de San Ildefonso, a space of great ornamental and symbolic richness within the Spanish patrimony. Rusiñol, an outstanding representative of Catalan modernism, demonstrates in this painting his mastery in capturing the atmosphere and the play of light on the stone surfaces and water.
The composition stands out for its balance between the classical architecture of the fountain and the naturalistic representation of the moving water, whose reflections and transparencies are treated with remarkable technical precision. The sculptures that decorate the fountain, with their patina of time and decadence, evoke a sense of nostalgia, a recurring theme in Rusiñol's work. The use of a sober chromatic palette, dominated by earthy and greenish tones, reinforces the serenity and melancholy character of the scene.
Beyond its technical skill, the importance of this painting lies in its ability to capture not only the image of the place, but also its poetic essence. Rusiñol, fascinated by gardens and historical spaces, not only documents their architectural beauty, but also turns them into metaphors for the passage of time and memory, fundamental themes in his artistic production.

A painter, writer and playwright in the Catalan language, Rusiñol was one of the main ideologists of the Catalan modernist movement. He trained as a disciple of Tomás Moragas and frequented the Center of Watercolorists, 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. During those years he made a carriage trip through Catalonia with Casas, taking notes of types and landscapes. The year 1888 marks a turning point in his career, since he begins with three new activities: he publishes some writings in "La Vanguardia", participates in the Paris Salon and holds his first individual exhibition at the Sala Parés. The following year, 1889, Rusiñol settles 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 approaches the thematic, but not technical, approaches of the impressionists, as well as their desire to capture a fleeting snapshot. In 1890 he established a relationship with Sitges, where he painted some of his first patios 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 returns to Paris with Casas and Utrillo. At this time he will focus on representing the entertainment spaces of the area, such as the Moulin de la Galette, which will be the protagonist of many of his paintings. However, in 1893 he left his studio in Montmartre and moved to the Ile Saint Louis, where he focused on the psychological study of the figure, especially female, reflecting the sadness, melancholy and loneliness typical of the fin-de-siècle period. The following year he travels to Italy with Zuloaga, visiting Pisa, Florence and other places, which allows him to know closely the primitives. On his return he exhibits the paintings made during this trip in what will be his first personal exhibition in the Sala Parés. That same year he inaugurates the Cau Ferrat in Sitges, the seed of the current museum. In 1895 he made his first trip to Granada, and began the series "Gardens of Spain". In 1897 he made some of his best paintings of gardens, an interest that also appears in his literary work "The Abandoned Garden", where he cultivates a symbolist decadence. The elegant garden becomes the protagonist, symbol of poetry; the abandoned garden hides a past of lost splendor. Rusiñol then travels, looking for gardens that seduce him, and paints them interiorizing them, showing his personal conception of beauty, of life and death, of art and reality, of solitude and the passing of time. Around this time, he exhibited in Paris at the Salon des Indépendants, at the Exposition Nationale and at the gallery of Samuel Bing, the main promoter of Art Nouveau in France. This last exhibition, of individual character and celebrated in 1899, supposed the international recognition of Rusiñol, whose success was based on a new vision of Spain, totally removed from clichés and loaded with veracity. From then on his activity multiplied as a painter, novelist and comedian, he premiered outstanding works in Madrid and Barcelona and held annual painting exhibitions in the Sala Parés, always with Casas and Clarasó. In 1908 he received the medal of the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. He is represented in the Prado Museum, the National Museum of Art of Catalonia, the Camón Aznar Museum of Zaragoza and the Thyssen-Bornemisza, among others.