Blanca Pons-Sorolla

- Volume 1 of Joaquin Sorolla's catalogue raisonn is the first part of the culmination of a project initiated by Francisco PonsSorolla and Blanca Pons-Sorolla, which assembles all currently known works by the painter - some 4,000 pieces. This first volume is dedicated to the collection of the Sorolla Museum in Madrid, SpainJoaquin Sorolla's catalogue raisonn is the culmination of a project that was initiated by Francisco Pons-Sorolla and Blanca Pons-Sorolla, which assembles all the work of the painter known so far (over 4,000 works). The aim of this project is the publication of five volumes in which the works by Joaquin Sorolla Bastida (1863-1923) will be presented by themes: 1. Sorolla Museum; 2. The Sea and the Beach; 3. Portraits; 4. Landscapes; 5. Composition Works. Within these themes, the works will be presented chronologically, so that the evolution of the painter can be observed in each case. This first volume of the catalogue is dedicated to the collection of the Sorolla Museum, which houses the largest collection of the artist's works. It displays a comprehensive panorama of the painter's oeuvre through 1,300 pieces. The project is currently being financed by the Sorolla Museum Foundation, and is being carried out by Blanca Pons-Sorolla, with the collaboration of Teresa Jim nez-Landi and M nica Rodr guez Subirana. Since the beginning of the project in 1987, a profoundly better understanding of Sorolla's work has been achieved.

Like Claude Monet s celebrated plein air landscapes at Giverny, the series collected in this book represents among the best-loved examples of Joaquin 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 Alcazar 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.

A native of Valencia, Spanish Impressionist Joaquin Sorolla (1863-1923) first went to Paris in 1885 as a young artist at the age of twenty-three. He exhibited at the 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 color palette, and loose, radiant brush strokes, Sorolla's sundrenched 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.

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.