Joaquín Sorolla received many accolades over his lifetime. The most important, though, was perhaps the turn of phrase used by Claude Monet, when he called the Spanish painter a “master of light.” And, in fact, Sorolla’s genre, portrait, and history paintings are flooded by an unparalleled, bright clarity and playful color schemes. He and his French admirer also devoted an entire cycle of works to the garden as such. What fascinated Monet in Giverny, Sorolla discovered in the grounds of the palaces of la Granja and the Alcazar in Seville, the Alhambra and the Generalife in Granada, and at his own home. Nuanced greens and façade elements form the background in front of which a colorful floral splendor is revealed. The feather-light application of paint continually allows Sorolla, as an Impressionist, to play with the abstract. With texts by Sorolla’s great-granddaughter, this is this first publication to feature the complete series. JOAQUÍN SOROLLA (1863–1923) is the chief figure of Spanish Impressionism. Influenced by his French colleagues, whom he met in Paris in 1885, light played the main role in his works. BLANCA PONS-SOROLLA is the great-granddaughter of Joaquín Sorolla. As a scholar, she is working on a comprehensive catalogue raisonné of Sorolla’s paintings. She is the author of the artist’s biography and has curated exhibitions of his work at the Prado in Madrid and the Meadows Museum in Dallas.
Community Notes