"The Old Faun," Santiago Rusiñol, 1911.

Rusiñol (1861-1931) was a leader of the Catalan "Modernisme" movement, which pushed for a unique artistic voice for Spain's Catalonia region. He was also a poet, journalist, and playwright.

Born into a textile manufacturing family, he married young but abandoned his family and children to study art, a rift that lasted over a decade. His family generously took him back in so he could cope with a morphine addiction, and then later became a mainstay of Barcelona's art world.

This is one of many paintings he did of beautiful scenery in Spain. This, for instance, is of the royal gardens in the town of Aranjuez, at the time a neglected community. Now it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid.

"Hydrangeas on a Garden Path," Santiago Rusiñol, before 1929.

Rusiñol (1861-1931) was a painter, poet, playwright, journalist, and art collector...wow. I never heard of him before today. He was a central figure of the Catalan modernisme movement, a sort of offshoot of art nouveau that sought to express the identity of the Spanish region of Catalonia.

Born in Barcelona, he inherited the family textile mill but abandoned that (and his family) to travel and paint. He eventually reunited with his wife and children, and at the dawn of the 20th century became a celebrated artist in Europe and the Americas, receiving the French Legion of Honor in 1917.When he passed on, the president of the Second Spanish Republic ordered a lavish official funeral.

This canvas depicts an actual part of Parc Badés, a garden in the city of Arbúcies, that Rusiñol loved and sought as a refuge from the turbulence of the times.

From a private collection.

Portraits of composer Erik Satie by Catalan painter Santiago Rusiñol