A facsimile edition brings projection to Rusiñol's wrought-iron collection

The edition of the study and conference, entitled Mis hierros viejos, by Santiago Rusiñol on his wrought iron collection in 1893, has been published by the Sitges Heritage Consortium in a facsimile edition, with an introductory study from Vinyet Panyella. The work will be presented tomorrow, Friday 28, at 7pm at the Cau Ferrat.

On January 21, 1893 - when Santiago Rusiñol was already in Sitges, but had not yet opened Cau Ferrat - he pronounced the conference Mis hierros viejos at the Ateneu Barcelonès, of which he was a member. The intervention was published the following day by the newspaper La Vanguardia and was also published seven years later by the printing company of L'Eco de Sitges. In this conference, Rusiñol outlined his fondness for collecting and his keen interest in wrought iron pieces, which he had acquired in previous years both in Catalonia and in Paris.

The forged iron collection of Santiago Rusiñol was already enjoying considerable prestige in 1893 and was well-known in various artistic circuits. This reason, coupled with the projection that characterized Rusiñol - as an artist, collector and cultural agitator - meant that the Ateneu Barcelonès Chairs Hall, properly adorned for the occasion, was filled with audience that erupted in applause after the conference. Among the attendees were the directors and different contributors to the newspapers of the moment, as well as other Barcelona intellectuals.

Rusiñol gave the conference in Castilian, as was usual at the Ateneo. The text was published entirely in the following edition of La Vanguardia. The book edition was, on the other hand, in 1900, seven years later, by Rusiñol's own wish to make the conference a literary record, but, above all, his fondness for forged iron collecting. In the study of the facsimile edition edited by the Sitges Heritage Consortium, Vinyet Panyella, argues that "beyond the plot line, the great contribution of Rusiñol's text was the appearance of the figure of the described collector in a literary context in a conference elaborated with the intention and to obtain a literary text of clear expressive will. Put it in another way, Rusiñol literatured art collecting. ''

The presentation of the facsimile edition of Mis hierros viejos will take place tomorrow (7pm), at Cau Ferrat, with the intervention of the director (acting director) of the Consortium, of the Heritage of Sitges, Pere Izquierdo; the author of the study, Vinyet Panyella, and the publisher Ramon Nadal. Earlier (6pm), Montserrat Esquerda will present the Piece of the Month, dedicated to the literary impact of Cau Ferrat.