19th – 20th Century Spanish

Widely considered the founder of the Catalan Modernisme movement, Rusiñol made a name for himself not only as a painter but also as a writer, collector and playwright. He started studying at the School of Fine Arts of Barcelona. In 1887, he moved to Paris in the company of other artists, including Ramón Casas (1866-1932), Miguel Utrillo (1862-1934) and Enrique Clarasó (1857-1941). He spent seven years there as a pupil of Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898) and Eugène Carrière (1849-1906) at the Henri Gervex academy.

On returning to Spain his work began to achieve certain recognition. He was one of an active circle of artists working in Sitges, whose influence spread to Barcelona with the famous café Els Quatre Gats, opened in 1879.

In his symbolist period, spanning from 1898 to 1930, his painting focused largely on the depictions of gardens, not as wild representations of Nature but as “civilised” natural spaces.