{"id":14730,"date":"2018-11-15T12:49:36","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T08:03:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/?p=14730"},"modified":"2018-11-15T12:50:05","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T12:50:05","slug":"santiago-rusinol-in-the-rooms-of-the-museu-nacional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/santiago-rusinol-in-the-rooms-of-the-museu-nacional\/","title":{"rendered":"Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol in the rooms of the Museu Nacional"},"content":{"rendered":"
Eduard Vall\u00e8s<\/h6>\n

The museum of the future, and of the present too, must go beyond its own walls and disciplines on a basis of institutional collaboration, a role that the Museu Nacional has internalized for years.<\/p>\n

The collaboration between the museum and the Teatre Nacional<\/a> de Catalunya (TNC)<\/h3>\n

This year, 2018, has witnessed the first collaboration between the two bodies; they have historically functioned in quite different registers and parameters, but the circumstances and one person in particular have placed them at an intriguing intersection. This person is the painter, writer, playwright and collector Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol<\/a>. No one is more suitable for initiating this collaboration, because not only was Rusi\u00f1ol an artist and playwright, but the work he produced as both was worthy of the highest honours. These days, a time of specialization, it would be unthinkable for anyone to emerge \u2013 or rather, be allowed to emerge \u2013 who was at one and the same time a very important figure in the theatre and in the plastic arts.<\/p>\n

The starting point for this collaboration has been this year’s autumn programme at the TNC, featuring Rusi\u00f1ol<\/a>, with the staging of two of his most outstanding pieces: Els jocs florals de Canprosa<\/em> (The Canprosa Poetry Contest) and La ni\u00f1a gorda <\/em>(The Fat Girl).<\/p>\n

Rusi\u00f1ol\u00a0and the meaning of modernity<\/h3>\n

The reason is that not only is Rusi\u00f1ol one of the artists most and best represented in our collections, but his role goes beyond the strictly artistic: Rusi\u00f1ol is<\/strong>, along with Ramon Casas<\/a>, the great pioneer of Catalan art\u2019s access to modernity during one of its most brilliant periods, the late 19th<\/sup> and early 20th<\/sup> centuries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Ramon<\/a>

Ramon Casas, Portrait of Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol<\/em><\/a>, around 1900<\/p><\/div>\n

Along with Casas, he moved to the Paris of the pioneers, and for a while he even lived in the Moulin de la Galette building itself. The journalistic articles that Rusi\u00f1ol sent back from Paris, illustrated by Casas, are the testimony of an artist who not only imported the modern art of his time, but who verbalized it through his texts, in which he combined diary writing with art criticism.<\/p>\n

From the first decade of the 20th<\/sup> century onwards his figure, understood as modern<\/em>, was gradually marginalized. His plays gradually lost their social commitment, and his painting shifted towards landscape art, gardens to be precise. Rusi\u00f1ol moved out of the centre of gravity of the strict avant-garde, although he continued to enjoy the favour of the theatre-going public. Seen in perspective, Rusi\u00f1ol is one of the few artists of Catalan art that on his own could tell the story of a period, and not just any old one, but one of the most brilliant. Even Eugeni d\u2019Ors<\/a> himself, ushering in the new times that would banish Rusi\u00f1ol and the remains of Modernisme<\/em>, highlighted what he represented in the book Fifty Years of Catalan Painting<\/em>:<\/p>\n

“It is difficult today, from a certain distance, to realize what the presence of that person one day signified in the art scene, and particularly in the social life of Catalonia. In many respects, and in his day, Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol was, on the local scene, the innovator par excellence. For years and years, many young souls saw in him something resembling a symbol of idealism, doing battle with the vulgarity round about, and in his name, a kind of symbol of freedom and sincerity.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\n

\"Oracions.<\/a>

Oracions<\/em>. \u00a9 Pere Cots<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Rusi\u00f1ol en las salas del museo<\/h3>\n

And now Rusi\u00f1ol the man of letters enters the museum thanks to the TNC, with the performance of a play inspired on one of his texts. We shall introduce the word to a stage where there are normally paintings, with all the challenges that working in a place somewhat different from ours represents.<\/p>\n

The work chosen is Orationibus#<\/em>SR<\/a>, written by Albert Arribas, a piece inspired on the book Prayers<\/em> by Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol. Orationibus#<\/em>SR is a contemporary interpretation of many of the problems that Rusi\u00f1ol pointed out, such as the role of culture in society or the meaning of tradition<\/strong>. It is a minimalist show that combines lyricism, cabaret and performance, with fragments of Rusi\u00f1ol\u2019s lyrical musical plays, such as The Joy that Passes<\/em> and The Abandoned Garden.<\/em><\/p>\n

\nhttps:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/Orationibus_TantarantanaV2.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

The museum, as well as hosting the performances, contributes to them with a small display of works by Rusi\u00f1ol from its collections, more or less associated with the theatre, which artistically \u201cillustrate\u201d his theatrical side. It is designed as a complement for the spectators who come to see Orationibus#<\/em>SR, and it can be seen in an adjoining room for a short while before the show begins. The works chosen are intended to be a synthesis of this by-pass between drama and art and all but two of them come from the museum\u2019s storeroom. To accompany the visit a leaflet has been designed, to act as a reminder of this activity with a short text and the reproduction of the works on display.<\/p>\n

Three posters have been chosen, a discipline that Rusi\u00f1ol, unlike Casas who was its standard-bearer, never worked in. But it is surprising that, of the few posters that he did make, some are about the theatre<\/strong>. A couple stand out, The Joy That Happens<\/em> and Interior<\/em>. The Joy That Happens<\/em>, a play by Rusi\u00f1ol, was one of his great dramatic successes and it was warmly received in its day. The poster includes a couple of elements that define Rusi\u00f1ol\u2019s work: the Clown that represents Poetry \u2013 locked in eternal combat with Prose \u2013 and the two rows of trees towards the vanishing point. This image alludes to the famous iconography of Rusi\u00f1ol\u2019s \u201croads\u201d, which he painted so much in oils and which are inspired by the Catalan landscape art of the second half of the 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

\"Santiago<\/a>

Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol, The Joy That Happens, <\/em>1898<\/p><\/div>\n

He made Interior<\/em> for the play of the same name by the Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck. Blue, a colour that for Rusi\u00f1ol was always much more than an expressive resource \u2013 a mood actually \u2013 monopolizes the poster.<\/p>\n

\"Santiago<\/a>

Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol, Interior<\/em>, 1899<\/p><\/div>\n

The third poster is not by Rusi\u00f1ol, but the critic and cultural activist Miquel Utrillo<\/a>, and it was created for Rusi\u00f1ol\u2019s play Prayers<\/em>. Utrillo poses one of Rusi\u00f1ol\u2019s decadent young classical women against a background landscape in which an arbour in the Generalife in Granada appears.<\/p>\n

\"Miquel<\/a>

Miquel Utrillo, Prayers<\/em><\/a>, 1897<\/p><\/div>\n

Courtyards and gardens were to become ideal settings for Rusi\u00f1ol\u2019s literature, as the titles themselves tell us, for example The Blue Courtyard<\/a> or The Abandoned Garden<\/em>, in evident correlation with his painting work. In this small display we therefore include a courtyard, with its singular blueness, and an oil painting of the Generalife in Granada. The paintings are later than the plays, but they are core scenarios of Rusi\u00f1ol\u2019s creativity, above all because they were often an outward projection of the artist\u2019s inner self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\n

\"Santiago<\/a>

Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol, <\/em>Gardens of the Generalife<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>1909<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The show will also include works by figures close to Rusi\u00f1ol, besides the aforementioned Utrillo. For example, a Portrait of Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol<\/a> by Ramon Casas, or a satirical drawing by Picarol in which we see Rusi\u00f1ol and Enric Borr\u00e0s, one of the great actors of Catalan theatre, together.<\/p>\n

But perhaps one of the most universal figures that Rusi\u00f1ol had dealings with \u2013 and who would be associated with the theatre through his music \u2013 was Erik Satie<\/a>. Rusi\u00f1ol met him during his stay in Montmartre, when the musician was earning his living as best he could by playing the harmonium around the taverns. Rusi\u00f1ol drew him in that period, playing the instrument and wearing a top hat. Some years later, by which time he was more successful, he immortalized him in the famous oil painting A Romance<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\n

\"Santiago<\/a>

Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol, A Romance<\/em><\/a>, 1894<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Como an\u00e9cdota destaca la que explic\u00f3 M\u00e0rius Verdaguer en su libro Medio siglo de vida \u00edntima barcelonesa<\/em>, que tiene por escenario la representaci\u00f3n del ballet cubista Parade <\/em>en el Liceu, en 1917, durante una gira de los Ballets Rusos<\/em> de Serge Diaghilev. Este ballet sofisticado, con decorados y figurines de Picasso y m\u00fasica de Satie, no tuvo una gran recepci\u00f3n entre el p\u00fablico, pero Rusi\u00f1ol, que estaba presente, no solo aplaudi\u00f3 con fervor, sino que lo hizo de pie sobre su butaca. A pesar de que en aquellas fechas Rusi\u00f1ol ya hab\u00eda dejado de ser el moderno de los d\u00edas de Montmartre, es evidente que todav\u00eda conservaba un moderno en su fuero interno, adem\u00e1s de un gran respeto por sus amigos de los tiempos heroicos, Satie y Picasso.<\/p>\n

\"Santiago<\/a>

Santiago Rusi\u00f1ol, Landscape. Aranjuez (unfinished work)<\/em><\/a>, 1931<\/p><\/div>\n

Cierra esta muestra el \u00faltimo \u00f3leo pintado por Rusi\u00f1ol durante sus \u00faltimos d\u00edas en Aranjuez, que qued\u00f3 inacabado. Es uno de sus jardines, pintado en 1931, que representa cuatro columnas en uno de los jardines de esta ciudad.<\/p>\n

Esta obra cierra simb\u00f3licamente el tel\u00f3n de la vida y la obra de Rusi\u00f1ol que, como en buena parte de los grandes artistas, se correlacionan entre s\u00ed. Vida y obra de Rusi\u00f1ol han estado desde siempre al servicio de una causa mayor, la construcci\u00f3n del mito Rusi\u00f1ol. Ese es el objetivo de esta combinaci\u00f3n plasticoteatral que proponemos desde el Museu Nacional, un acercamiento combinado a uno de los artistas, sin duda, m\u00e1s relevantes e influyentes de toda la historia del arte catal\u00e1n. Y tiene todo el sentido hacerlo de la mano del Teatre Nacional y de su equipo, con quienes hemos trabajado en magn\u00edfica sinton\u00eda.<\/p>\n

Enlaces relacionados<\/h3>\n

Curiosities of the collection: modern art<\/a><\/p>\n

New display of Modern Art<\/a>, Museu Nacional d\u2019Art de Catalunya<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eduard Vall\u00e8s The museum of the future, and of the present too, must go beyond its own walls and disciplines on a basis of institutional collaboration, a role that the Museu Nacional has internalized for years. The collaboration between the museum and the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC) This year, 2018, has witnessed the first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[395,242,1400],"class_list":["post-14730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collection","category-general-en","tag-modern-art","tag-modernism","tag-santiago","author-eduard-valles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/wp-content\/uploads\/Santiago-Rusi\u00f1ol-Teatre-al-Museu-Nacional.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4tWCI-3PA","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14730"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14741,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14730\/revisions\/14741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.museunacional.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}