Last Wednesday I attended a press preview of Sorolla and the Paris years at Musee des l'Impressionnismes, Giverny. Its an absolute joy to behold. Something we all need a bit of now.
Pure light and beauty
Do you know Joquin Sorolla's works? A masterful painter, often called the Spanish 'impressionist'. A quote from La Prensa, Buenos Aires 1923,"Sorolla's brush was a beam of solar threads that left no opaque matter on the canvas, but only pure radiations. Sorolla painted the unpaintable."
Large format paintings take up entire walls.
An exhibit of 100 paintings, many from Madrid, 4 coming from Cuba.
Sorolla (1863-1923) was a contemporary and friend of John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).
Their subject matter were similar as was their virtuosic brushwork.
As a student Sorolla copied at least 15 works by Velazquez in Madrid. His work was a constant source of inspiration throughout his life.
His blacks
And his whites have incredible depth
Take time to look at the small details painted with such bravura.
"With all its excesses, the modern impressionistic movement has given us one discovery, the color violet. It is the only discovery of importance in the art world since Velazquez."
Its recorded Sorolla painted quickly and directly from his subject, often completing large, complex paintings in just 4 days.
"I could not paint at all if I had to paint slowly. Every effect is so transient, it must be rapidly painted.”
"As far as outdoor work is concerned, a studio is only a garage; a place in which to store pictures and repair them, never a place in which to paint them."
A room entirely devoted to Sorolla's small oil sketches, 50 of them.
Painted on card or wood as possible reference for future works
A Paris view painted during his student days as a struggling young artist
If you're coming to Paris do go see the Sorolla and the Paris years exhibit in Giverny, just a 45 minute train ride from Gare St. Lazare. Rizolli has translated the beautifully illustrated catalog if you can't make it.
I couldn't resist making watercolor sketches from his sketches. So much to learn.
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