Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (27 February 1863 – 10 August 1923) is Spanish impressionist. Known as Joaquín Sorolla (read as Hoakin Soroya) or Sorolla, he was one of impressionist masters Spain ever had. Born in Valencia Sorolla began his painting career making paintings in realism style. His favorite themes were first social and historic. Gradually Sorolla changed his style from realism into impressionism. The light in his paintings became lighter and lighter. He then painted scenes of people on the street, on the beach, landscapes and villages outdoor. His paintings are lively and show how life was at that time.
These following paintings show the characteristic Sorolla’s angle and light. Beach scenes were his favorites.
My favorite ones
First time I heard about Sorolla I saw this painting, Mending the sail from 1896. Fishers and the family at Valencia are mending the sail here. I love everything in this painting. The sail. the light, where the people stand and the perspective.
My second fave Sorolla’s work. My wife and two daughters in the garden from 1910. Beautiful and lovely painting of his wife Clotilde and their daughters Maria and Elena. Look at the raw brush strokes on the ladies’ dress. Clotilde’s dress is beige while the daughters’ is blueish. What a technique!
Waiting from 1915. If you pay good attention, Sorolla had become a real impressionist by then. This is a scene of flamenco dancers waiting for their turn in Sevilla. Sorolla didn’t bother the details, he just stroke his brushes creating that wanted impressionist style light. What I love in this painting is the subdued light. This is in contrast with his earlier works shown above. With this painting he showed that he mastered the technique.
Seville, the dance from 1915. This is from the same series as the previous painting, Waiting. It shows a flamenco dance party, Sevillanas. Love the bright colours, the choice of showing the building and the low angle.
Pulling the boat from 1916. A scene from Valencian beach in the golden hour. Look at the warm glow, and the long shadow. The sun must have stood behind him. Did Sorolla paint this early in the morning or late in the evening before the sun set? I don’t know. I find this geniously thought.
I can go on and on about this master of light. His paintings tell a story. I hope you enjoyed my picks.
Sources:
All paintings were taken from WikiArt Sorolla
Chez Lorraine 
❤ so pretty!
They are all pretty, right?
All of them!! I love impressionism, I realized its my favorite!! ❤
Mending the Sail cakep bangettt. Sebenernya ga pernah terlalu suka impressionists tapi ada beberapa pengecualian, ini salah satunya :).
Sukanya aliran lukisan apa?
Sejak kenal Raden Saleh, saya sering lihat-lihat lukisan aliran Romanticism dan jadi seneng banget lukisan aliran itu misal : Eugene Delacroix dan Ingres. Terkagum-kagum sama pelukis-pelukis aliran Academicism juga dengan topik-topik classical kayak Lawrence Alma-Tadema kalo lihat lukisannya bisa berlama-lamaa gitu nikmatinnya. Bouguerau juga, istrinya juga oke banget lukisannya. Victorian Classicism, Pre-Raphaelites. Lukisan-lukisan Realist juga suka salah satunya Rosa Bonheur, yang spesialisasi lukisan binatang.
Oh jauh ya memang rentang waktu Romanticism ke Impressionism. Suka Goya, Constable & the likes? Dan suka pelukis era Barbizonschool juga ngga? Jacob Maris, Mesdag & Israëls? Bagus juga tuh Aya.
Wajar kalo kamu kurang suka impressionism karena impressionism menentang apa yang diwakili romanticism 🙂
Iya hehe.
Goya yang awal-awal masih menikmati begitu topiknya udah mulai gelap meski bagus gak bisa lama-lama lihatnya. Ngeri sendiri!
Issac Israels juga suka apalagi setelah lihat sendiri salah satunya di Kroller-Muller. Lukisan dia tentang batch tentara KNIL pertama yg lagi dianter berangkat, wiihh…
Jacob Maris dan Mesdag belum tau 🙂 *langsung brosing2*
Beautiful!! I see why you love “Mending the Sail,” the natural color transition is masterly done. Thanks for the art post. It is a nice break for me to read another one of your writings.
You are welcome Joude. In this blog I share things I love to talk about, one of them is art.
The sail and composition in Mending the sail, grabbed my attention directly. Very very beautiful, right?
Mbaaak aku gak pinter liat lukisan sih tapi aku sukaaaa gambar yang ketiga dari atas, raut wajah cewek yang gak pake topinya itu kereeeen, padahal kan lukisan ya tapi kok berasa ‘hidup’. Yang Waiting juga aku suka, muka-mukanya beda ekspresi dan sebenernya gambarnya gak ‘detail’ (gak ngerti aku tekniknya) tapi kayak komenku ke gambar no 3, itu ada ‘aura’ nya ya ketangkep beda-beda ekspresinya.
Nah itu. Aku rasanya suka emosional kalo lihat karya seni begini aslinya di museum Ndang. Art touches your soul. Ngga perlu ngerti banget, let it sink dan rasakan 🙂
mbak, I always like impressionism painting like these. sama kayak buku, lukisan kadang juga suka bikin saya tertawa, terharu, berkaca2 bahkan menangis 🙂
🙂 Aku perah tulis impressionists lainnya seperti Edgar Degas & Hendrik Breitner. And more to come, stay tuned!
ditunggu……. 🙂
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Thank you for introducing him to me
You are very welcome. If you happen to travel to Madrid, do visit his museum which used to be his mansion where Sorolla lived untill his passing.