A homage to the great Spanish painter of light and sea, among the innovators of Spanish painting, drawing from the Impressionist experience

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (Valencia, 1863 – Cercedilla, 1923) was one of the major Spanish painters at the turn of the 19th century; his paintings exude light, and appear modern and photographic-like, capturing dynamic moments of gentle and subtle realism, capable of staging the contemporary, without commenting it.

An authentic visual poetry presenting a marine rural Spain rooted in tradition; an artistic style relevantly set between Goya and Picasso, marking a crucial milestone in the course of Spanish and European painting. Published on the occasion of the exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan, this monograph documents the long and prolific artistic career of this important protagonist of the international art scene in the decades between the 19th and the 20th centuries: scenes of life by the sea, fishermen, beautiful and fleeting real-life moments (with children playing by the sea and women strolling along the beach), as well as portraits in the wake of the grand portraiture tradition established by Greco, Goya, Velázquez, interpreted with modern photographic take.

The main subject of the Spanish painter’s art however was always the Mediterranean light, that the artist masterfully captured on his canvases with vibrant, light, bright palettes and pure dazzling whites; his extraordinary works en plein air by the sea make Sorolla an exponent of an accomplished Mediterranean impressionism.

Published on the occasion of a major retrospective, this gorgeous new survey focuses on the paintings related to the years Joaquín Sorolla spent in Paris. A native of Valencia, Spanish Impressionist Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923) first went to Paris in 1885 as a young artist at the age of twenty-three. He exhibited at international salons, winning the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle in 1900, and in 1906, he exhibited for the first time at the Galerie Georges Petit, one of the principal galleries of the Impressionists. The exhibition was a resounding success and helped establish Sorolla’s international reputation. Known for his vigorous compositions, unusual colour palette, and loose, radiant brush strokes, Sorolla’s sun-drenched landscapes, beach scenes, and luminous portraits even impressed such contemporaries as Claude Monet. Richly illustrated and with newly researched essays by noted scholars, this important book reveals much new information about Sorolla’s activities and relationships with other artists in Europe. Included are more than one hundred paintings reflecting the artist’s career, from his early work in Paris in which the influence of the French Impressionists is clearly evident, to the distinctive pictures that reflect his mature and celebrated style.

About the Authors:

Véronique Gerard-Powell is chief curator and senior lecturer in the history of art at the University of Paris-Sorbonne and is a specialist in Spanish painting and the history of collecting.
Dominique Lobstein is former head of documentary studies in the painting department of the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
María López Fernández is chief curator at Mapfre Foundation, Madrid.
Blanca Pons-Sorolla is the foremost scholar on the work of Joaquín Sorolla and has written and contributed to numerous books, including Sorolla: The Masterworks (Skira Rizzoli, 2012). She is the artist’s great-granddaughter.

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Пролистать книгу Sorolla and the Paris Years

A new survey of the best works by the elusive and spectacular Spanish Impressionist Joaquín Sorolla. 

Often compared to his contemporary, the American artist John Singer Sargent, Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923) was a master draftsman and painter of landscapes, formal portraits, and monumental, historically themed canvases. Highly influenced by French Impressionism, the Valencian artist was a master plein-air painter known for his luminous seaside scenes of frolicking youths and for vivid depictions of Spanish rural life and its pleasures and customs. 

This beautifully designed and produced volume brings together one hundred of Sorolla’s major paintings, selected by his great-granddaughter Blanca Pons-Sorolla, the foremost authority on the artist. Benefiting from close proximity to the artist and his personal archives, she presents an in-depth essay that explores Sorolla’s life, work, and remarkable international legacy. 

With virtually all of the artist’s previous publications now out of print, this much-anticipated volume is an important addition to the literature on this great Spanish master.

About the Author:

Blanca Pons-Sorolla is the foremost scholar on the work of Joaquín Sorolla and has written and contributed to numerous books.

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Пролистать книгу Sorolla: The Masterworks на сайте издательства.

Valencian master Sorolla's Impressionist paintings depict the most beautiful gardens and architecture in Spain.

Like Claude Monet's celebrated plein-air landscapes at Giverny, the series collected in this book represents among the best-loved examples of Joaquín Sorolla's (1863-1923) work, and a window into the Spanish painter's quest to capture the essence of a garden. Described by Monet as "the master of light," Sorolla and his landscapes, formal portraits, and historically-themed canvases drew comparisons to contemporary American painter John Singer Sargent. Sorolla had achieved renown on both sides of the Atlantic for grand scenes of Spanish life when he began a personal series of garden works, presented completely for the first time in this publication.

Painted at the palaces of La Granja and the Alcázar in Seville, the Alhambra and Generalife in Granada, and at the painter's home in Madrid, these Impressionist works allowed Sorolla to apply his signature loose brushwork and training as a photographer's lighting assistant to gardens and the sculptures, architecture, and sitters that frame and animate them. Sorolla depicted reflections in fountains and pools, the sunlight dappling his glamorous sitters, sprays of orange blossoms, and shaded blue-and-white tile as he endeavoured to render the radiant peace of a summer afternoon.

About the Author:

Blanca Pons-Sorolla is the foremost scholar on the work of Joaquín Sorolla and has written and contributed to numerous books, including Sorolla: The Masterworks. She is the artist's great-granddaughter. She was deputy curator of the retrospective exhibition "Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923)" held at the Prado in 2009.