Santiago Rusiñol i Prats: The Girl with Carnation

*The girl with carnation*, (Teresa Mirabent Planas), Santiago Rusiñol (1893), from the collection of Cau Ferrat Museum, Image credit: Google Arts and Culture

“From the beginning the light of Sitges dazzled Rusinol’s retina, just like before it blinded Arcadi Mas I Fondevila, Joan Roig I Soler and the rest of the Luminist School painters.
That’s why one of the topics that attracted more Rusiñol was precisely the blue patios. Perhaps one of the most famous samples can be found in the museum of Montserrat; however in Cau Ferrat we find three examples: “the Suburense patio” (Brollador room), “the girl in white” by Ramon Casas (in the same room) and this painting.
The figure is the essential part of the painting, whilst the patio is the background that surrounds it and helps to bring out the beauty of the girl, who does not seem to be aware of the presence of the painter. The colors are vivid and bright, and the girl smells, captivated, the fragrance of a carnation.
This is one of the most beautiful portraits that Rusiñol painted throughout his life, and even though it was exhibited three times, the author decided to keep it for his private collection.”
Google Arts and Culture