Retrat de l'escultor Carles Mani (Portrait of the Sculptor Carles Mani)

This painting was never displayed during the artist’s lifetime. In fact, it left the Cau Ferrat for the first time in 1981. Retrat de l’escultor Carles Mani (Portrait of the Sculptor Carles Mani) is, without the shadow of a doubt, one of the most disturbing portraits of all the ones that Rusiñol painted. The tension in the face, the mistrustful look and the surly pose of the figure shows us a taciturn, tormented man, while also the misunderstood, wretched artist that Mani always was. Rusiñol depicted him in half-body seated on a chair with his left arm draped over the back. The sculptor’s shaded physiognomy and the black jacket he is wearing stand out over a bold two-toned background made up of the reddish hues of the wall and the yellow bedspread, a colour clearly inspired by the yellow of the clothing of El Greco’s Saint Peter.