Ramón Casas

RAMÓN CASAS CARBÓ (Barcelona, 1866–1932).
“View of Tamarit Castle,” ca. 1926.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 68 x 98 cm; 84 x 111 cm (frame).
Work verified by Adriá Codina. A certificate can be issued upon request and at the buyer’s expense.
Exhibitions: Sala Parés, “Painters of the Gallery, 1877–1950,” 2026.

The painting depicts Tamarit Castle, a Romanesque fortress situated on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in Altafulla, in the province of Tarragona. By the end of the 19th century, the ancient medieval village of Tamarit had been completely deserted and abandoned due to epidemic outbreaks of malaria. In 1916, Ramon Casas convinced his close friend, the American magnate, philanthropist, and art collector Charles Deering, to purchase the abandoned complex from the Archdiocese of Tarragona.
Deering placed his full trust in Casas to oversee and direct the architectural restoration and decoration of the entire monumental complex. Together with the builder Joan Ruiz, Casas designed a restoration in the Romantic style that succeeded in preserving and restoring the Romanesque and Gothic remains of the ancient Vila Closa and its seaside fortress.
The complex was equipped with gardens, electricity, access roads, and outbuildings (such as the farmhands’ house and the defense tower), transforming it into a spectacular summer residence for the magnate and a vibrant hub of cultural convergence.
Ramon Casas i Carbó was one of the key figures of Catalan Modernism and one of the great innovators of portraiture in Spanish painting of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Trained in both Barcelona and Paris, he absorbed the naturalism, Impressionism, and modern sensibility of the French capital. Alongside Santiago Rusiñol and Miquel Utrillo, he played an essential role in Barcelona’s artistic life at the turn of the century, especially within the circle of Els Quatre Gats. His work is represented in institutions such as the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC), the Museu del Modernisme in Barcelona, the Museu de Montserrat, the Museu Cau Ferrat in Sitges, and the Museo Nacional del Prado, among other public and private collections.