After Bathing, Valencia

Joaquín Sorolla prints bring the dazzling Mediterranean sun, sparkling sea and white summer dresses of Spain into your home. Sorolla was the great Spanish painter of light, famous for his beach scenes of Valencia, his portraits and his monumental Vision of Spain murals. Our collection of fine art prints covers his beaches and swimmers, fishermen and boats, gardens, family portraits and scenes of Spanish life.

About Joaquín Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was born in Valencia on 27 February 1863. Orphaned at two, he and his sister were raised by an aunt and uncle. He began studying art at nine, and at eighteen went to Madrid to study the old masters in the Prado. A grant took him to Rome for four years, and a long stay in Paris in 1885 introduced him to modern painting, especially Jules Bastien-Lepage and Adolph Menzel.

In 1888 he married Clotilde García del Castillo, his lifelong muse; they had three children. Settling in Madrid, he painted large social, historical and Orientalist pictures for exhibitions. Another Marguerite (1892) won a gold medal in Madrid and first prize in Chicago, and The Return from Fishing (1894) was bought by the French state. Sad Inheritance (1899) won him the Grand Prix at the 1900 Paris Exposition, and a 1906 show at the Galerie Georges Petit in Paris was a triumph.

In 1908 he met Archer Milton Huntington, who arranged exhibitions in the United States and commissioned the fourteen huge murals Vision of Spain for the Hispanic Society of America in New York. He was friends with John Singer Sargent and Anders Zorn. He died in Madrid on 10 August 1923. His home in Madrid is now the Museo Sorolla.

Style and Subjects

Sorolla is famous for capturing bright sunlight: white sails and dresses flashing in the sun, sparkling water, glowing skin and violet shadows on the sand. He painted quickly and boldly outdoors, with broad, fluid strokes that catch movement and light in an instant.

His favourite subjects were the beaches of Valencia and Jávea, with fishermen, boats and children playing in the sea, and his family, above all his wife Clotilde. He was also an accomplished portraitist and painted Spanish gardens and regional life.

Famous Works

• Kissing the Relic (1893), Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. Worshippers kissing a holy relic in a church.
• White Slave Trade (1894), Museo Sorolla, Madrid. A sombre social subject from his early career.
• And They Still Say Fish Is Expensive (1894), Museo del Prado, Madrid. A social subject set among fishermen, now in the Prado.
• Sewing the Sail (1896), Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna, Venice. Women mending a vast white sail in dappled sunlight.
• Sad Inheritance (1899). Disabled children bathing in the sea, which won the Grand Prix in Paris in 1900.
• Señora de Sorolla in Black (1906), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. An elegant portrait of his wife Clotilde.
• Walk on the Beach (1909), Museo Sorolla, Madrid. Clotilde and their daughter in white, walking on the sand.
• Vision of Spain, Hispanic Society of America, New York. Fourteen great murals of the regions of Spain.

Decorating with Sorolla Prints

Sorolla's beach scenes, like Swimmers, Jávea or Clotilde on the Beach, bring brilliant summer light into a living room, bedroom, bathroom or beach house, and suit coastal, Mediterranean and modern white interiors.

His garden scenes and portraits of Clotilde are elegant in a dining room or hallway, and his fishermen and boats make a lively pair for a study.

FAQ

What is Joaquín Sorolla known for?

He is known as the painter of light, for his sunlit beach scenes of Valencia and Jávea, his portraits and his Vision of Spain murals in New York.

What art movement was Sorolla part of?

He is often linked with Impressionism, but he developed his own style of painting bright Mediterranean light with bold, fluid brushwork.

What is Sorolla's most famous painting?

Walk on the Beach (1909) is among his best-loved works, and Sad Inheritance (1899) won his greatest official honour, the Grand Prix at the 1900 Paris Exposition.

Where can I see Sorolla's paintings?

The Museo Sorolla in his former Madrid home has the largest collection. Others are in the Prado, the Hispanic Society of America in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum.

Related Artists

• John Singer Sargent: friend and fellow painter of light and portraits
• Anders Zorn: Swedish painter and friend, often exhibited with him
• William Merritt Chase: American painter who received one of his Sad Inheritance sketches
• Ignacio Zuloaga: Spanish painter of the same generation, also shown widely abroad