In 1896 Santiago Rusiñol launched a fundraising campaign in order to build the first public monument to the famous painter Doménikos Theotokópulous, El Greco, in Sitges.
The stone sculptureby Barcelona sculptor Josep Reynés Gurguí (Barcelona, 1850-1926), financed by popular subscription, was unveiled on 25 August 1898.
This initiative reflects the importance of El Greco for artists like Santiago Rusiñol and Ramon Pichot, as well as for intellectual figures of the time, who saw the Greek painter as a free spirit and personification of the modern artist.