The town of Sitges has made 2009 the year of the Commemoration of Utrillo, with a series of activities reflecting on the life and work of Miquel Utrillo i Morlius (Barcelona, 1862 - Sitges, 1934), an intellectual and multi-talented artist who was at the heart of the group that forged Catalan Modernisme and part of the movement that later launched Noucentisme.
The main events of the commemoration, curated by the writer Vinyet Panyella, begin on 23 October. The Miramar building will host an exhibition tracing Utrillo's many intellectual pursuits (art critic, painter, writer, journalist, cultural events organiser). In the Palau Maricel, a second exhibition will look at the construction and golden age of the Palau, built by Utrillo for the North American multi-millionaire, Charles Deering.
Utrillo lived in Paris, as did artists Ramon Casas and Santiago Rusiñol. The three were close friends, as were, among others, sculptor Enric Clarasó and Pere Romeu, founder of the Els Quatre Gats tavern.
Utrillo had a knack for spotting new artistic tendencies and introducing them into the cultural world of Catalonia. As such, he was among the first critics to take notice of the young Picasso's work.
Utrillo, who designed and directed construction of Barcelona's Poble Espanyol, came to know Sitges through Rusiñol. He immersed himself in the cultural life of the town and built its main architectural gem, Palau Maricel. This vast complex, built over the former fishermen's district, housed Deering's grand art collection, largely put together by Utrillo with the American's cash.
The project's nasty end (Deering and Utrillo quarrelled and the former left Sitges with this collections for the USA) in no way diminishes Utrillo's intellectual importance in turn-of-the-century Catalonia, something Sitges Town Hall and the Sitges Heritage Association aim to underline with this commemoration.
Antoni Sella i Montserrat
Director of the Consorci del Patrimoni de Sitges