"Cemeteries, burials and the close presence of death in general were very common themes in Santiago Rusiñol’s (Barcelona, 1861 - Aranjuez, 1931) pictorial and literary works, especially during the 1890s.
Cementiri de Montmartre painted in 1891 is an extraordinary painting in which Rusiñol manages to achieve a sad atmosphere by means of a play of light that is fundamentally based on three colours: grey, ochre and white.
The scene is displayed in a descending perspective, taken from near the artist’s apartment in Moulin de la Galette. The downhill perspective endows the painting with a feeling of farawayness, meaning that it can be viewed in a depersonalised manner. It is the view of a man who forms part of modern towns."