Joaquín Sorolla: Painter Of Light

Art Culture General

06.06.2021

476

Joaquín Sorolla was a famous Spanish painter. He was born in the coastal city of Valencia. His work is in the luminist and impressionist style. He had a complicated childhood, being orphaned at barely 2 years old, both parents died because of a cholera epidemic. He was adopted by his aunt and uncle, along with his sister Eugenia.

From a very young age, he was interested in drawing. His uncles saw his talent and enrolled him at the age of 13 in night drawing classes, with a famous Valencian sculptor. There he learned with nude models and plaster sculptures. He continued his training and at the age of 16, he entered the Superior Academy of Fine Arts in Valencia. There he excels in the handling of the paintbrush and captures realistic works of great mastery.

Unknown. Joaquín Sorolla. 2018. http://dbe.rah.es/biografias/8384/joaquin-sorolla-bastida

While studying at the Academy of Valencia, he befriended another artist, whose father was a famous Valencian photographer. Andres Garcia received Sorolla in his home and gave him a job as an assistant. Sorolla has in Garcia a teacher. The photographer taught, him the importance of the handling of light and composition. The Garcia family also helped him sell his paintings. Sorolla later marries the photographer’s daughter.

Joaquín Sorolla participates in various competitions and exhibitions. Winning lots of prizes, and scholarships. Sorolla stood out for painting Valencia beaches, people enjoying the sea and the marinas. However, he was an extraordinary portrait painter. In addition, he made wonderful realistic works. He was also somewhat critical of the Academy. He did not agree with the type of artworks they have to show, realistic and classical works, that lacked light and life. The same criticism that the Impressionists Group made of the Paris Salon.

The Technique

By the time Sorolla worked as an assistant to the famous photographer Antonio García, the photographs were usually illuminated, that is to say, they were colored with watercolors, to highlight some points and give color to some parts of the photo. This process was taught to Sorolla, who quickly learned to highlight the photographs with lights and colors to give them more life.

After graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Valencia, Sorolla began to create paintings to support himself. Sorolla was a tireless worker. His artwork is counted in almost three thousand works, and almost twenty thousand drawings and sketches.

Sorolla liked to paint outdoors, to capture light and shadow. Because of this preference, he had to paint quickly, as the light was changeable. His brushwork was loose, he used long brushes, which is why his work has so much movement. Once the moment was captured, he would move the paintings to his studio to finish them, but most of the work was done outdoors.

Del Rivero, R. Joaquín Sorolla painting. Sorolla Museum. https://www.madridiario.es/470818/efemeride-muerte-sorolla-cercedilla-madrid

In his painting workshop, he had a large entrance of light in the ceiling. He had modified the ceiling to have as much light as possible. Sorolla had a good memory, so he could remember the light and the movement of the sea, and then finish capturing it in his studio. Sometimes he used photography as an auxiliary element when painting. Either using his photographs or those of his father-in-law, Antonio Garcia.

The Artwork

Joaquín Sorolla was mainly dedicated to capturing the sea, beaches, and marinas. Sorolla always sought beauty. He once said “Art has no relation to ugliness or sadness. Light is the life of everything it touches; so the more light there is in the painting, the more life, the more truth, the more beauty it will have.” So everything he painted used to emphasize beauty, always works full of light.

Sorolla even complained about the difficulty of painting the sea, however, he managed to convey the movement and depth of the water in his artworks. The sea was represented majestically in this artwork ¨The white boat¨.

The white boat. Joaquin Sorolla. 1905. https://www.alejandradeargos.com/index.php/es/completas/32-artistas/41818-joaquin-sorolla-biografia-obras-y-exposiciones

One of Sorolla’s most famous works is “Sewing The Sail”. A magnificent artwork whose main figure is a boat’s sail. For some critics this artwork was not well regarded, how could a simple inanimate thing be the center of an artwork. However, this perfectly achieved artwork is full of light, the fabric of the sail transmits movement. It is the scene of the daily life of fishermen and their families.

Sewing the sail. Joaquín Sorolla. 1896. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:Cosiendo_la_vela.jpg

In his artworks, the shadows had colors, violets, browns, and blues stand out in “Walk On The Beach”. This artwork by Sorolla shows two ladies in their white dresses, walking on the shores of a Valencian beach. The ladies are his wife and daughter. The artwork conveys movement, you can almost touch the breeze that moves the hat and dresses.

Walk on the beach. Joaquín Sorolla. 1909. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paseo_a_orillas_del_mar

The Collections

Sorolla was a great collector. A great variety of collections can be seen in the Sorolla Museum in Madrid. Among them are butterflies, traditional Spanish costumes, and traditional jewelry. And a large collection of photographs, he came to have more than six thousand images.

The costumes and jewelry were collected by Sorolla, to investigate and to be able to paint more accurately the great artwork he was commissioned to paint. In 1911, the Hispanic Society of New York commissioned Joaquín Sorolla to paint “Vision of Spain”. A majestic artwork consisting of 14 large panels, showing the different regions of Spain. For this, the artist traveled to investigate, talk, make paintings and photographs of each region. In addition to the photographs, he acquired clothing and jewelry from each region.