Introducing Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida

Regular readers will remember that Who Painted This? #42 was about the painting of the Torre de los Picos / Los Picos Tower La Alhambra, Granada - by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida.

The Gardens at the Sorolla Family House (1920)
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida
Museo Sorolla

I looked at a lot of Sorolla paintings while doing that post and decided to make a website about him - which you can find at About Joaquin Sorolla.

This includes:

• THE LIFE OF JOAQUIN SOROLLA (1863 - 1923)
• SOROLLA - THE PAINTINGS
• Artist in Museums and Art Galleries
• Sorolla in Online Galleries
• EXHIBITIONS
• Sorolla Exhibitions in 2013 - 2014
• SOROLLA AND GARDENS
• SOROLLA AND GRENADA

He was an extraordinarily prolific painter - I understand there are about 2,200 paintings in total.  The video below is a tour of his house - which is now a museum - and it gives you a sense of both the impact of the paintings and their size.  I was amazed at how big some of them are.



This is another video Museo Nacional del Prado: Comments on the exhibition by Jose Luis Díez and Javier Barón (video) made by the Prado Museum for the retropsective exhibition of Sorolla's work in 2009 which is in Spanish - but does have subtitles - and has some really great images of the paintings which also gives you a strong sense of the size and impact of his paintings..

I like his paintings of boats and people at work and leisure on the beach - he has a particularly fine eye for the colours associated with the water and the marine atmosphere in a sunny climate.  His brushwork is also very seductive - it's looks very relaxed - but the approach and skill level approaches that of John Singer Sargent.

Lime trees, Jardines de los Reales Alcazares, Seville
(Pastel 25.5" x 19.5" )
by Katherine Tyrrell
Houses & Gardens - fine art drawings by Katherine Tyrrell

However I'm also very partial to his paintings of gardens.  That's not unexpected given I'm also rather partial to sketching gardens as those who know my sketchbook blog will appreciate.

He typically painted these later in life.  Like Monet he painted his own garden.  You don;'t have to move the easel very far!

His style is sketchy but his use of colours is almost always impeccable.  I particularly like the way he varies his greens.  So many people paint gardens and forget how many greens there really are.

Sorolla did some splendid views of the pools and fountains in the palace - such as this fountain and the the pool of the Alcazar.

I've also created art in one of the gardens he used to paint in.

My pastel drawing (above right) was done plein air while sat on the shady verandah of a building in the grounds of the Real Alcazar de Sevilla - which is a Spanish palace which started out life as a Moorish fort.  It remind me of the heat of the day and the value of the shade.  (BTW I know the pillar is leaning!  I have an awful problem with verticals... particularly when working plein air!)