Maricel Museum

The Maricel Museum is an art museum located in the centre of Sitges, a coastal town in Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 1970, it houses a heterogeneous collection of more than 3,000 works spanning ten centuries of art history, from从没有 Romanesque and Gothic pieces through Modernisme and Noucentisme. The museum is part of the Barcelona Provincial Council Local Museum Network and is owned by the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona. After a major refurbishment, it reopened in 2015 and is recognised as a museum of national interest by the Government of Catalonia.

In 1969, the Barcelona Provincial Corporation purchased the building of Maricel de Mar with the purpose of housing the collection of Doctor Jesús Pérez-Rosales, a gynaecologist born in Manila in 1896 who died in Barcelona in 1989. The museum was inaugurated a year later, in 1970. Since 1995, the museum has also housed the "Vila de Sitges" Collection of art. The museum closed for renovation works and reopened in December 2014, with the official reopening after refurbishment taking place in 2015. Since 2012, the Sitges Heritage Association has made acquisitions to complement the collection, including works by Ramon Casas, Miquel Utrillo, Arcadi Mas i Fondevila, Artur Carbonell, and Augustí Ferrer Pino, as well as donations from relatives of artists such as Pere Jou and Alfred Sisquella.

The Maricel Museum presents a complete artistic route from the tenth century to realism and figuration during the first half of the twentieth century. The exhibition integrates multiple languages, techniques, and artistic media in chronological sequence. The core collection derives from Dr. Jesús Pérez-Rosales and includes Romanesque murals, Gothic painting on wood, Renaissance carvings and altarpieces, Modernista and Noucentista sculptures, paintings, furniture, precious metalwork, ceramics, and porcelain. The "Vila de Sitges" Collection, occupying rooms on the second floor since 1995, features approximately fifty works by Sitges artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and by others with close links to the town. The museum's holdings have been augmented by loans and deposits from the Government of Catalonia, the Museum of the Provincial Government of Barcelona, and the Montserrat Museum.

Among the most significant works are the twelfth-century Christ Pantocrator from Santa Maria de Cap d'Aran, and two pieces from the altarpiece of Sant Pere de Cubells attributed to Pere Serra. The collection includes Modernista and Noucentista sculptures by Josep Llimona (Distress), Enric Clarasó (Head of Child Crying), Joan Rebull (Rest, Dawn, and Gypsy Child), Josep Clarà, Josep Cañas, and Pablo Gargallo (The Reaper). Six allegorical murals by Josep Maria Sert on the First World War are displayed in the Sert Hall. The Luminist School of Sitges is represented by Felip Masó (Saint Bartholomew Procession), Joaquim de Miró (The Malvasia Harvest), Arcadi Mas i Fondevila (The Corpus Christi Procession in Sitges), Joan Roig i Soler, and Antoni Almirall. Santiago Rusiñol is represented by Twilight, painted in Biniaraix, Mallorca, and portraits of local figures. Ramon Casas painted the exceptional portrait of Charles Deering, who commissioned the Maricel complex. Joaquim Sunyer's Maternity opens the Noucentisme room. The museum also holds the maritime collection of Emerencià Roig i Raventós, comprising models, miniatures, drawings, engravings, maps, nautical instruments, and fishing tackle.

The museum occupies the building of Maricel de Mar, situated on Carrer de Bernat de Fonollar in first line to the sea, adjacent to the Maricel Palace. The building is in the Noucentista style and offers views over the Mediterranean. The ground floor incorporates the ancient Gothic chapel of the Hospital of Sant Joan, the predecessor building on the site. The viewpoint hall is considered the most spectacular space, with sea views and three large Noucentista sculptures by Joan Rebull. The Sert Hall concludes the visit. The complex is protected as a monument.

The Maricel Museum is located at Carrer de Bernat de Fonollar, s/n, Sitges. It is owned by the Provincial Deputation of Barcelona and forms part of the Barcelona Provincial Council Local Museum Network. Opening hours vary seasonally: from January to March and November to December, the museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm; from April to October, Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm. Mondays are closed year-round. The museum's official website is http://www.museusdesitges.com.