Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida ( va, Joaquim Sorolla i Bastida, 27 February 1863 – 10 August 1923) was a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
Valencian
Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the El Carche comarca in Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance language also known as Catal ...
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
. Sorolla excelled in the painting of
portraits
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...
,
landscapes
A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...
and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are characterized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the bright sunlight of Spain and sunlit water.
Biography
Early life
Joaquín Sorolla was born on 27 February 1863 in
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
, Spain. Sorolla was the eldest child born to a tradesman, also named Joaquín Sorolla, and his wife, Concepción Bastida. His sister, Concha, was born a year later. In August 1865, both children were orphaned when their parents died, possibly from cholera. They were thereafter cared for by their maternal aunt and uncle, a locksmith.
![Dos de mayo, por Joaquín Sorolla](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Dos_de_mayo%2C_por_Joaqu%C3%ADn_Sorolla.jpg)
He received his initial art education at the age of 9 in his native town,
and then under a succession of teachers including Cayetano Capuz, Salustiano Asenjo. At the age of eighteen he travelled to
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, vigorously studying master paintings in the
Museo del Prado
The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...
. After completing his military service, Sorolla, at age twenty-two, obtained a grant which enabled a four-year term to study painting in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, where he was welcomed by and found stability in the example of
Francisco Pradilla
Francisco Pradilla Ortiz (24 July 1848 – 1 November 1921) was a prolific Spanish painter famous for creating historical scenes.
Biography
He was born in Villanueva de Gállego, in Zaragoza Province and began his studies in Zaragoza. He ...
, the director of the Spanish Academy in Rome. A long sojourn to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in 1885 provided his first exposure to modern painting; of special influence were exhibitions of
Jules Bastien-Lepage
Jules Bastien-Lepage (1 November 1848 – 10 December 1884) was a French painter closely associated with the beginning of naturalism, an artistic style that emerged from the later phase of the Realist movement.
His most famous work is his lan ...
and
Adolph von Menzel. Back in Rome he studied with José Benlliure,
Emilio Sala, and
José Villegas Cordero
José Villegas Cordero (26 August 1844, Seville – 9 November 1921, Madrid) was a Spanish painter of historical, genre and costumbrista scenes.
Early life
His father ran a barbershop, and his family had their doubts about an artistic caree ...
.
In 1888, Sorolla returned to Valencia to marry Clotilde García del Castillo, whom he had first met in 1879, while working in her father's studio. By 1895, they had three children together: Maria, born in 1890, Joaquín, born in 1892, and
Elena
Elena may refer to:
People
* Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name
* Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician
* Francine Elena (born 1986), British poet
Geography
* Elena (town), a town in Veliko ...
, born in 1895. In 1890, they moved to Madrid, and for the next decade Sorolla's efforts as an artist were focused mainly on the production of large canvases of
orientalist, mythological, historical, and social subjects, for display in salons and international exhibitions in Madrid, Paris,
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
His first striking success was achieved with ''Another Marguerite'' (1892), which was awarded a gold medal at the National Exhibition in Madrid,
[ then first prize at the Chicago International Exhibition, where it was acquired and subsequently donated to the ]Washington University
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
Museum in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
. He soon rose to general fame and became the acknowledged head of the modern Spanish school of painting.[ His picture '' The Return from Fishing'' (1894) was much admired at the ]Paris Salon
The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...
and was acquired by the state for the Musée du Luxembourg
The Musée du Luxembourg () is a museum at 19 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Established in 1750, it was initially an art museum located in the east wing of the Luxembourg Palace (the matching west wing housed the Marie de' ...
.[ It indicated the direction of his mature output.
Sorolla painted two masterpieces in 1897 linking art and science: ''Portrait of Dr. Simarro at the microscope'' and ''A Research''. These paintings were presented at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts held in Madrid in that year and Sorolla won the Prize of Honor. Here, he presents his friend Simarro as a man of science who transmits his wisdom investigating and, in addition, it is the triumph of naturalism, as it recreates the indoor environment of the laboratory, catching the luminous atmosphere produced by the artificial reddish-yellow light of a gas burner that contrasts with the weak mauvish afternoon light that shines through the window. These paintings may be among the most outstanding world paintings of this genre.
]
''Sad Inheritance!''
An even greater turning point in Sorolla's career was marked by the painting and exhibition of '' Sad Inheritance'' (1899, seen at right), an extremely large canvas, highly finished for public consideration. The subject was a depiction of crippled children bathing at the sea in Valencia, under the supervision of a monk. They are the victims of hereditary syphilis
Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...
the title implies, perhaps. Campos has suggested that the polio epidemic that struck the land of Valencia some years earlier is present, possibly for the first time in the history of painting, through the image of two affected children. The painting earned Sorolla his greatest official recognition, the Grand Prix and a medal of honor at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1900, and the medal of honor at the National Exhibition in Madrid in 1901.
A series of preparatory oil sketches for ''Sad Inheritance'' was painted with the greatest luminosity and bravura, and foretold an increasing interest in shimmering light and of a medium deftly handled. Sorolla thought well enough of these sketches that he presented two of them as gifts to American artists; one to John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...
, the other to William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase (November 1, 1849October 25, 1916) was an American painter, known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons School of Design. ...
. After this painting Sorolla never returned to a theme of such overt social consciousness.
Maturity
The exhibit at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900 won him a medal of honour and his nomination as Knight of the Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
;[ within the next few years Sorolla was honoured as a member of the Fine Art Academies of Paris, ]Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
, and Valencia, and as a Favourite Son of Valencia.
A special exhibition of his works—figure subjects, landscapes and portraits—at the Galeries Georges Petit in Paris in 1906 eclipsed all his earlier successes and led to his appointment as Officer of the Legion of Honour.[ The show included nearly 500 works, early paintings as well as recent sun-drenched beach scenes, landscapes, and portraits, a productivity which amazed critics and was a financial triumph. Though subsequent large-scale exhibitions in Germany and ]London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
were greeted with more restraint, while in England in 1908 Sorolla met Archer Milton Huntington
Archer Milton Huntington (March 10, 1870 – December 11, 1955) was a philanthropist and scholar, primarily known for his contributions to the field of Hispanic Studies. He founded The Hispanic Society of America in New York City, and made ...
, who made him a member of The Hispanic Society of America
The Hispanic Society of America operates a museum and reference library for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain and Portugal and their former colonies in Latin America, the Spanish East Indies, and Portuguese India. Despite the name, it ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, and invited him to exhibit there in 1909. The exhibition comprised 356 paintings, 195 of which sold. Sorolla spent five months in America and painted more than twenty portraits.
Sorolla's work is often exhibited together with that of his contemporaries and friends, John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...
and Anders Zorn
Anders Leonard Zorn (18 February 1860 – 22 August 1920) was a Swedish painter. He attained international success as a painter, sculptor, and etching artist. Among Zorn's portrait subjects include King Oscar II of Sweden and three American ...
.
Portraits
Although formal portraiture was not Sorolla's genre of preference, because it tended to restrict his creative appetites and could reflect his lack of interest in his subjects, the acceptance of portrait commissions proved profitable, and the portrayal of his family was irresistible. Sometimes the influence of Velázquez was uppermost, as in ''My Family'' (1901), a reference to Las Meninas
''Las Meninas'' (; ) is a 1656 painting in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. It has become one of the most widely analyzed works in Western painting, due to the way its complex an ...
which grouped his wife and children in the foreground, the painter reflected, at work, in a distant mirror. At other times the desire to compete with his friend John Singer Sargent was evident, as in ''Portrait of Mrs. Ira Nelson Morris and her children'' (1911). A series of portraits produced in the United States in 1909, commissioned through the Hispanic Society of America, was capped by the ''Portrait of Mr. Taft, President of the United States'', This portrait, which was painted at the White House, is on permanent display at the Taft Museum of Art
The Taft Museum of Art is a fine art collection in Cincinnati, Ohio. It occupies the 200-year-old historic house at 316 Pike Street. The house – the oldest domestic wooden structure in downtown Cincinnati – was built about 1820 and housed ...
in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The appearance of sunlight could be counted on to rouse his interest, and it was outdoors where he found his ideal portrait settings. Thus, not only did his daughter pose standing in a sun-dappled landscape for ''María at La Granja'' (1907), but so did Spanish royalty, for the ''Portrait of King Alfonso XIII in a Hussar's Uniform'' (1907). For ''Portrait of Mr. Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...
'' (1911),
the American artist posed seated at his easel in his Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
garden, surrounded by extravagant flowers. The conceit reaches its high point in ''My Wife and Daughters in the Garden'' (1910, see gallery below), in which the idea of traditional portraiture gives way to the sheer fluid delight of a painting constructed with thick passages of color, Sorolla's love of family and sunlight merged.
''The Provinces of Spain''
Early in 1911, Sorolla visited the United States for a second time, and exhibited 152 new paintings at the Saint Louis Art Museum
The Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) is one of the principal U.S. art museums, with paintings, sculptures, cultural objects, and ancient masterpieces from all corners of the world. Its three-story building stands in Forest Park in St. Louis, Mi ...
and 161 at the Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...
a few weeks later.
Later that year Sorolla met Archie Huntington in Paris and signed a contract to paint a series of oils on life in Spain. These 14 magnificent murals, installed to this day in the Hispanic Society of America
The Hispanic Society of America operates a museum and reference library for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain and Portugal and their former colonies in Latin America, the Spanish East Indies, and Portuguese India. Despite the name, i ...
building in Manhattan, range from 12 to 14 feet in height, and total 227 feet in length. The major commission of his career, it dominated the later years of Sorolla's life.
Huntington had envisioned the work depicting a history of Spain, but the painter preferred the less specific ''Vision of Spain
''Vision of Spain'', (Spanish: ''Visión de España'') and also known as ''The Provinces of Spain'', is a 1913–19 series of fourteen monumental canvases by Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla depicting the customs, costumes, and traditions of regi ...
'', eventually opting for a representation of the regions of the Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
, and calling it ''The Provinces of Spain''. Despite the immensity of the canvases, Sorolla painted all but one en plein air
''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors.
This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...
, and travelled to the specific locales to paint them: Navarre
Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...
, Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
, Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
, Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
, Elche
Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,[Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...]
, Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
, Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
, Galicia, Guipuzcoa
Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French depa ...
, Castile, Leon
Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to:
Places
Europe
* León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León
* Province of León, Spain
* Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...
, and Ayamonte
Ayamonte (; pt, Aiamonte) is a town and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Huelva, Andalusia. It is located near the border with Portugal on the mouth of the Guadiana River. According to the 2015 census, the city had a population ...
, at each site painting models posed in local costume. Each mural celebrated the landscape and culture of its region, panoramas composed of throngs of laborers and locals. By 1917 he was, by his own admission, exhausted. He completed the final panel by July 1919.
Sorolla suffered a stroke in 1920, while painting a portrait in his garden in Madrid. Paralysed for over three years, he died on 10 August 1923. He is buried in the Cementeri de Valencia, Spain.
The Sorolla Room, housing the ''Provinces of Spain'' at the Hispanic Society of America
The Hispanic Society of America operates a museum and reference library for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain and Portugal and their former colonies in Latin America, the Spanish East Indies, and Portuguese India. Despite the name, i ...
, opened to the public in 1926. The room closed for remodeling in 2008, and the murals toured museums in Spain for the first time. The Sorolla Room reopened in 2010, with the murals on permanent display.
Legacy
Sorolla's influence on some other Spanish painters, such as Alberto Pla y Rubio and Julio Romero de Torres
Julio Romero de Torres (9 November 1874 – 10 May 1930) was a Spanish painter. His brothers, Rafael and , also became painters.
Biography
He was the son of Rafael Romero Barros, a painter who served as Director of the Fine Arts Museum of ...
, was so noted that they are described as "sorollista."
After his death, Sorolla's widow, Clotilde García del Castillo, left many of his paintings to the Spanish public. The paintings eventually formed the collection that is now known as the Museo Sorolla, which was the artist's house in Madrid. The museum opened in 1932.
Sorolla's work is represented in museums throughout Spain, Europe, America, and in many private collections in Europe and America.[ In 1933, J. Paul Getty purchased ten ]Impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
beach scenes made by Sorolla, several of which are now housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa.
The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fea ...
.
In 1960, ''Sorolla, el pintor de la luz'', a short documentary written and directed by Manuel Domínguez was presented at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
.
The Spanish National Dance Company
The Spanish National Dance Company ( es, Compañía Nacional de Danza, CND) was founded in 1979 under the name ''Ballet Nacional de España Clásico''. Its first director was dancer Victor Ullate, followed by Maria de Avila, Ray Barra, Maya Pli ...
honored the painter's ''The Provinces of Spain'' by producing a ballet ''Sorolla'' based on the paintings.
The high-speed railway station in Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
is named after Sorolla.
Temporary exhibitions
In 2007 many of his works were exhibited at the Petit Palais
The Petit Palais (; en, Small Palace) is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France.
Built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle ("universal exhibition"), it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (''Musée des beaux-arts ...
in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, alongside those of John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...
, a contemporary who painted in a similarly impressionist-influenced manner. In 2009, there was a special exhibition of his works at the Prado
The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It migh ...
in Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, and in 2010, the exhibition visited the Oscar Niemeyer Museum
The Oscar Niemeyer Museum ( pt, Museu Oscar Niemeyer) is located in the city of Curitiba, in the state of Paraná, in Brazil. It was inaugurated in 2002 with the name Novo Museu or New Museum. With the conclusion of remodeling and the constructi ...
in Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
From 5 December 2011 to 10 March 2012, several of Sorolla's works were exhibited in Queen Sofía Spanish Institute
The Queen Sofía Spanish Institute is an organization in New York City, founded to promote the Spanish language and the culture of Spain and the Americas. Its office is located at 575 Madison Avenue, following the sale of the 684 Park Avenue locat ...
, in New York. This exhibition included pieces used during Sorolla's eight-year research for ''Vision of Spain
''Vision of Spain'', (Spanish: ''Visión de España'') and also known as ''The Provinces of Spain'', is a 1913–19 series of fourteen monumental canvases by Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla depicting the customs, costumes, and traditions of regi ...
''.
An exhibition titled ''Sorolla & America'' explored Sorolla's unique relationship with the United States in the early twentieth century. The exhibition opened at the Meadows Museum
The Meadows Museum, nicknamed "Prado on the Prairie", is a two-story, 66,000 sq. ft.art museum in Dallas, Texas on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU). Operating as a division of SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, the museum houses one ...
at SMU in Dallas (13 December 2013 – 19 April 2014). From there it traveled to the San Diego Museum of Art
The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located at 1450 El Prado in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Galler ...
(30 May – 26 August 2014) and then to Fundación MAPFRE
Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, o ...
in Madrid (23 September 2014 – 11 January 2015).
In 2016 the Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
Kunsthalle held a major Sorolla exhibition.
In 2019 the National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
, London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, held a major temporary Sorolla exhibition, titled ''Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light''.
In 2022 the Palazzo Reale
This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent.
Africa
* Abdin Palace, Cairo
* Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo
* Koubbeh Palace, Cairo
* Tahra Palace, Cairo
* Menelik Palace
* Jubilee Palace
* Guenete Leul Palace
* Imperial Palace- Massa ...
in Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
held a major temporary Sorolla exhibition, titled ''Joaquin Sorolla: Pittore di luce'' (painter of light).
Gallery
File:Museo Sorolla - 00410 - Joaquín Sorolla García vestido de blanco.jpg, '' Joaquín Sorolla García vestido de blanco'', 1896. Sorolla Museum, Madrid.
The painter's son, "dressed in white".
File:Joaquin Sorolla Ninos A La Orilla Del Mar.jpg, ''Children on the Seashore'', 1903. In the upper right corner, Sorolla has included an oblique reference to another favorite theme, oxen pulling fishing boats in to shore. Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...
.
File:Señora de Sorolla (Clotilde García del Castillo, 1865–1929) in Black MET DP168810.jpg, '' Señora de Sorolla in Black'', 1906, Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
.
File:Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida - La playa de Valencia.jpg, ''Beach at Valencia'', 1908.
File:Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida - The Horse’s Bath - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Horse’s Bath'', 1909. Sorolla Museum, Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
.
File:Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida - Strolling along the Seashore - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Walk on the Beach'' or ''Paseo a orillas del mar'', 1909. Sorolla Museum, Madrid.
File:RobertBaconUSSoS.jpg, ''Robert Bacon
Robert Bacon (July 5, 1860 – May 29, 1919) was an American statesman and diplomat. He was also a leading banker and businessman who worked closely with Secretary of State Elihu Root, 1905-1909, and served as United States Secretary of Sta ...
'', 1909 (U.S. Department of State).
File:Chicos en la playa, por Joaquín Sorolla.jpg, ''Children on the beach'', 1910. Museo del Prado
The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...
, Madrid.
File:La fiesta del pan.jpg, ''Castilla'' or ''La fiesta del pan'', 1913. First to be completed of ''Vision of Spain
''Vision of Spain'', (Spanish: ''Visión de España'') and also known as ''The Provinces of Spain'', is a 1913–19 series of fourteen monumental canvases by Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla depicting the customs, costumes, and traditions of regi ...
'', 14 murals at the Hispanic Society
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties former ...
in Manhattan.
File:NinaSorolla.JPG, ''Niña'', 1904. Museo Nacional de la Habana, Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
.
Notes
References
External links
Museo Sorolla
(38 works)
www.sorollapaintings.com
Hispanic Society Of America (provinces of Spain and extensive collection of Sorolla paintings
(146 works)
Art Renewal
(84 works)
Exhibition of Sorolla paintings at the Prado in Madrid, Spain
*
Bancaja Collection of Sorolla's painting in Valencia, Spain
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorolla Y Bastida, Joaquin
1863 births
1923 deaths
19th-century Spanish painters
19th-century Spanish male artists
Spanish male painters
20th-century Spanish painters
20th-century Spanish male artists
Orientalist painters
People from Valencia
Spanish Impressionist painters
Spanish portrait painters
Painters from the Valencian Community