Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, (Spanish, 1863-1923)
Net menders in Valencia, c. 1909
Oil on canvas laid down on board
15 x 22½ in. (38.1 x 57.1 cm.)
Private Collection
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (27 February
1863 – 10 August 1923) was born in Valencia. He and his
younger sister were orphaned 2 years later when both their parents died from a
cholera outbreak.
From an
early age it was clear that Sorolla had a passion for art. Instead of academic
study, the young Sorolla would spend his school days making drawings in his
copybooks and by the age of 15 he was winning major prizes for his paintings at
the Academy of Valencia.
By his mid
20s Sorolla had firmly established himself on the national stage and by 30 he
had displayed paintings in salons and international exhibitions in Madrid,
Paris, Venice, Munich, Berlin, and Chicago. By the turn of the century Sorolla
was recognised as one of the western world’s greatest living artists, receiving
gold medals in several major international exhibitions.
Over the
first decade of the 20th century Sorolla’s output was incredible, both in
quality and quantity. As well as painting many striking portraits, his new
found wealth enabled him to devote himself more fully to painting where and
what he wanted. Throughout this decade Sorolla was completing hundreds of
paintings each year, often canvases of 2 metres or more painted direct on the
beach.
In 1909,
the Hispanic Society of America hosted an exhibition of Sorolla’s works in New
York City. Of the 356 paintings on show a total of 195 were sold.
In 1911
Sorolla started work on a major commission to produce a series of vast panels
celebrating the life and customs of the different regions of Spain for the
Hispanic Society’s new headquarters in New York. This enormous and exhausting
endeavour was to dominate the next 8 years of Sorolla's life, although he still
managed to find time to paint some of his most stunning beach scenes.
Please visit my other blogs: Art
Collector, Mythology, Marine
Art, Portrait of a Lady, The
Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of
Venice, And visit my Boards on Pinterest
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