Going to a place like Spain reminded me of how ignorant I am of a place like Spain. How is it I knew little to nothing – except maybe the name, and that he was a painter – about Ramon Casas before I encountered his work up on Montserrat?
Which speaks of another spot of ignorance. I knew there was an art museum as part of the Montserrat complex, but I didn’t know anything about it. When I found out that our combination ticket included admission to the museum as well as the basilica and Our Lady of Montserrat, I figured we’d find a good collection of medieval art reflecting religious themes, as medieval art tends to do.
I was wrong. The Museum of Montserrat does indeed display some medieval works, but only in the first rooms, as well as a collection of varying images of Our Lady of Montserrat, plus Byzantine and Slavic icons. But there is also pre-Christian ancient artwork, and European paintings and sculpture from every century after the Middle Ages petered out, including the 21st. All together, about 1,300 pieces.
Less surprising is its large collection of Catalan art, and in one of those rooms I made the acquaintance of Casas. I could hardly miss him. Here’s a detail from the first painting I saw of his, “Madeleine” (1892).
Wow. The museum has this to say (mechanically translated) about its Casas collection: “More than twenty works by Ramon Casas (1866-1932) are preserved in Montserrat… His works convey the atmosphere of Paris, with portraits in interiors where Casas focuses on the detail in the female figure, immersing the viewer in the actions and attitudes of the characters. On the other hand, they also reflect the painter’s taste for the folklore of the time, with ladies wearing mantellines, combs, shawls, and where bull races are frequent….”
I decided to take a few more detail shots of Casas’ work. In order: “La cigarreta” (1906), “La religiosa” (ca. 1920), and “Júlia” and “Cordovesa,” both undated.
More specifically, I wanted images of his female faces, of which he seems to capture their essential allure.