Portrait of Charles Deering

"In this portrait of Charles Deering, painted in 1914, Ramon Casas shows the owner of Maricel in front of a green background, seated on an armchair that must have been part of his furniture collection. In this painting, Casas captured the personality of an intelligent man with a good sense of humour. Charles Deering, from the United States of America, was born in 1852 in the state of Maine. Being a member of a family of business men who manufactured farm machinery, his economic wherewithal and love for art collecting led him to travel around Europe. Attracted by Ramon Casas, he forged a friendship with the painter, with whom he arrived in Sitges in 1909. In Sitges, Deering was fascinated by Cau Ferrat, and after Rusiñol’s refusal to sell him his home, he decided to buy the old hospital, located right next door. Miquel Utrillo, with whom Deering had gotten into touch via Ramon Casas, was in charge of remodelling the old building. Not content to stop there, Deering kept purchasing the small fishermen’s houses on either side of the street with the intention of integrate them into his project and exhibiting his collection of Spanish art there, a collection which he gradually amassed under the advice of Utrillo. A bridge over Fonollar Street linked both sides of the complex, which he named Maricel after the play by the playwright Àngel Guimerà. Charles Deering’s relationship with Sitges ended in September 1921, when he left the town and took his collections with him, because of disagreements that arose between him and his right-hand man, Miquel Utrillo. Despite this, Sitges still conserves the imprint of two figures who transformed the appearance of this old quarter and endowed it with a unique personality (Museu de Maricel, Sitges, Col. d'Art de la Vila, 9)"