Art Patronage and Collecting
Deering devoted the rest of his life to art collecting and to the creation of several estates in the United States and Europe. Deering dreamed of creating an art center in Spain, and in 1910 he had the Palau Maricel built with the help of the artist Miquel Utrillo i Morlius in Sitges, a town just south of Barcelona. The building was connected by a bridge across the lane to a second building he purchased, which now houses the Museu Maricel. A portrait of him by Catalan artist Ramon Casas i Carbó can be seen in the museum, which is open to visitors. The Palau Maricel is also open to visitors, but only in the summer. Deering's hope was that the complex would become a magnet for artists and artistic life, where people of many nations would come to make art and study. In addition, Deering's own large and many-sided collection of Spanish art and decorative objects would be on display. In the end, however, Deering abandoned much of this plan. Instead, much of his collection was given to the Art Institute of Chicago, while other works were transferred to his estate at Cutler, Florida.
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