Ramon Canudas malalt al llit (Ramon Canudas Sick in Bed)

"The friendship between Rusiñol and Canudas began in 1885 via Miquel Utrillo. This friendship grew over the years, especially during the time when they lived together in Paris in the mansion on Rue de l’Orient, and it lasted until the engraver’s death from tuberculosis in Sitges in 1892. Among the numerous portraits that Rusiñol painted of his friends, a few feature the engraver Ramon Canudas. The artist executed these two portraits in the same year, just a few months apart, that Canudas’ illness had become irreversible. This work only shows a close-up, in which we can see Canudas’ head resting on a pillow. The ill man’s features, with his eyes half-closed, accentuate the attitude of someone who has been aware of the imminence of death for some time. Despite the small size of the painting and the place where it is housed, the portrait of Canudas does not go unnoticed; to the contrary, his deathly image powerfully draws the attention of anyone who climbs the stairs at Cau Ferrat for the first time. (Museu del Cau Ferrat, Sitges, 30763)"