Joaquín Sorolla

JOAQUÍN SOROLLA Y BASTIDA (Valencia, 1863 – Cercedilla, Madrid, 1923).
"Valencia Beach," 1905.
Oil on photographic cardboard by Antonio García (Sorolla’s father-in-law).
Signed in the lower left corner.
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Ms. Blanca Pons Sorolla.
Inventory number BPS 3598.
Work reproduced in: "Eight Essays on Sorolla," Volume II, Hispanic Society of America, 1909. p. 137, Ref. 223.
Work reproduced in: “Sorolla and Benlliure: Brushstrokes of a Friendship,” Bancaja Cultural Center, Valencia (March 13–July 26, 2020). p. 95, ref. 157.
On the reverse, a number in red has been crossed out, and above it is the number 223 in black; the former corresponds to his entry in the 1906 Paris Exhibition, and the latter to the 1909 New York Exhibition.
It shows slight cracking in the upper right corner.
Measurements: 10.5 x 16.5 cm, 26 x 32 cm (frame).
This oil painting, created by Joaquín Sorolla during the summer of 1905, depicts various figures and children playing in the sand—possibly the children of the painter Joaquín and María— according to Blanca Pons Sorolla, bathed in the powerful yellow light of a Mediterranean sunset—a recurring theme for the Post-Impressionist master, who devoted part of his body of work to social genre painting. In his carefully crafted composition, which retains a certain air of spontaneity, Joaquín Sorolla completes the scene with a little girl dressed in shades of pink who approaches the viewer from the right, while a group of children plays in a circle in the center of the scene; on the left, some women go about their chores without losing sight of the children. For Joaquín Sorolla, the beach became a setting for social, bourgeois, and cosmopolitan representation, rather than a place of spontaneous enjoyment. In the work we are presenting, Sorolla maintains the elegance of this type of composition, depicting the figures dressed in predominantly white, lightweight, yet elegant attire. The bold brushstrokes—which, combined with the absence of preparatory sketching, lend the work the feel of a preparatory study—are two elements that propelled Joaquín Sorolla to the very top of the global art scene.
Even during his school years, Joaquín Sorolla demonstrated a passion for drawing and painting, attending afternoon drawing classes taught by the sculptor Cayetano Capuz at the School of Artisans. After receiving an award upon completing his preliminary studies at the Escuela Normal Superior, he enrolled in the prestigious San Carlos School of Fine Arts in Valencia in 1879. Furthermore, during his visits to Madrid in 1881 and 1882, he copied paintings by Velázquez, Ribera, and El Greco at the Prado Museum. Two years later, he achieved great success at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts with a historical painting, which encouraged him to apply for a scholarship to study at the Spanish Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. Having achieved his goal, Sorolla left for Rome in 1885, spending several months in Paris before arriving. In the French capital, he was impressed by the paintings of the Realists and the artists who worked en plein air. After completing his time in Rome, he returned to Valencia in 1889 and settled in Madrid the following year. In 1892, Sorolla displayed a new focus in his art, turning his attention to social issues by depicting the poignant scene of “¡Otra Margarita!”, which was awarded a first-class medal at the National Exhibition and, the following year, at the International Exhibition in Chicago. This sensibility would remain in his work until the end of the decade, evident in his depictions of the Valencian coast. Gradually, however, the Valencian master would move away from the themes of unfortunate children seen in “Triste herencia,” which had won awards at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair and at the National Exhibition in Madrid a year later. Encouraged by the success of his resplendent images of the Mediterranean, and inspired by his love for the light and life of its sun-drenched beaches, he focused his works on these scenes—more joyful and pleasant—which would bring him international fame. In 1906, he held his first solo exhibition at the George Petit Gallery in Paris, where he also demonstrated his skills as a portraitist. In 1908, the American Archer Milton Huntington, impressed by the artist’s exhibition at the Grafton Gallery in London, sought to acquire two of his works for his Hispanic Society. A year later, he personally invited Sorolla to exhibit at his institution, resulting in a 1909 exhibition that was a huge success. The relationship between Huntington and Sorolla led to the most important commission of the painter’s life: the creation of the immense canvases intended to illustrate the regions of Spain on the walls of the Hispanic Society. His work is currently represented at the Prado Museum and the museum bearing his name in Madrid, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Bilbao and Valencia Fine Arts Museums, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and many others.