A view of the Ribera by Joaquim de Miró enters the Maricel Museum

The Maricel Museum incorporates a new work in its collection and permanent collection: View of the Baluard and the beach of El Greco , an oil that Joaquim Miró and Argenter painted in 1908 and which constitutes an accurate photography of the Sitges from the beginning of the 20th century. The work is tthe main star in the April Piece of Museums in Sitges and will be presented by the director, Vinyet Panyella, tomorrow, Thursday, at 7 pm at the Maricel Museum.

View of the Baluard and the beach of El Greco was acquired by the Sitges Heritage Consortium at the end of last year to a family of the town. So far, it had only been exposed to the public on a single occasion, in 1978, during an exhibition organized by the Group pf Sithetan Studies. The first owner of the work was also a member of the inhabitants of Sitges in the last American colonies,  Pere Montaner i Falç (Sitges, 1867 - 1964), and was dedicated to him, according to the same Miró i Argenter.

The painting shows how the Ribera was in the first years of the 20th century, when the monument dedicated to the Greco, in 1898, was erected by a popular initiative promoted by Santiago Rusiñol. The statue by Josep Reynés became a significant point of the local landscape as of that moment and Joaquim de Miró placed in the work the center of this work. The piece also shows, in a dominant position, the image of the Tip on the back; the Can Falç building on the left, three women chatting on the street, and the beach with a stranded boat. Oil also contains, in addition to dedication, the date on which it was finished (December 16, 1908), an unusual precision in Miró's works.

Joaquim de Miró i Argenter (Sitges, 1849 - 1914) was one of the masters of the Sitges Iluminist School and probably one of the most genuine members of this local group of artists. Brother of Josep de Miró i Argenter, general of the Cuban independence, was characterized by his liberal and free-thinking profile, as well as his philanthropic activity in the Sitges of the time. He was one of the most trusted artists of Santiago Rusiñol in Sitges and became the master of Joaquim Sunyer, a famous painter.

View of the  Baluard and the Greco beach will be in the Gothic Hall of the Maricel Museum, next to the portrait of Charles Deering made by Ramon Casas. The work has been restored in the the workshops of the Sitges Heritage Consortium, in a work that has allowed it to regain its splendor and color.