History of the building and collections, 10

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1 Contents Introduction, 8 History of the building and collections, 10 Museum visit, 13 Lower Ground Floor, 15 Andalusian courtyard, 15 Ground Floor, 19 Room I. Introduction to the work of joaquín sorolla, 19 Room II. Sorolla s Study. Beach Scenes, 38 Room III. The Artist s Studio. Portraits, Landscapes, Gardens, 50 Room. Family Portraits, 70 Breakfast room and dining room, 80 First Floor, 87 Room I. Temporary exhibition rooms, 87 Garden, 88 Activities and services, 90 General information, 93

2 Introduction This is the house of the painter Joaquin Sorolla, born in Valencia in Orphaned as a child, he began studying fine arts when he was fifteen, and at the age of twenty-one received his first scholarship to travel to Italy. At twentyfive he married the woman who would become his eternal muse, Clotilde García del Castillo, and until his death in 1923 (Cercedilla, Madrid) his life was that of a tireless worker who adored his family and his profession. Sorolla was a restless and curious artist who travelled extensively throughout Europe and the United States to present his own work and to discover that of artists from other countries. Although he had contact with the avantgarde of his time, he always kept to the Naturalism in which he had been trained artistically, as did other great artists of his time whom he admired and who are now becoming increasingly valued, such as Whistler, Sargent and Zorn. His particular version of Naturalism has been called luminism due to the overwhelming emphasis placed on light. 8

3 Although in the early stages of his career he developed themes of a social and historical nature, his interests gradually drifted towards more purely pictorial aspects of painting, to scenes of daily life, which simply serve as a means to study light in all its forms and nuances. In particular, natural light outdoors is the realm in which Sorolla is truly revealed as an exceptional artist: his powers of observation and ability to capture never cease to amaze. I always paint with my eyes, says Sorolla (letter to Clotilde, 25 March 1918), and so it is. His gaze transfigures all it touches and teaches us to look. After a while in the company of his paintings, our eyes learn to see more and to see better. 9

4 History of the building and collections Sorolla moved into the house in From 1909 the project had been developed by the architect and academic Enrique Repullés y Vargas ( ), who had designed the Madrid Stock Exchange and other notable public buildings. The architect s eclectic style was receptive to the dictates of Sorolla, who actively participated in the design to accommodate his tastes. It features spacious studios with overhead lighting to aid his work, a luxurious and elegant showroom and a private living area, as well as spacious servants quarters. Sorolla also had two special whims: an Andalusian Courtyard with tiles and pots, and a garden with Italian and Andalusian features, recalling the Alcázar in Seville and the Alhambra in Granada. Nothing is lacking: there is a portico with a Palladian arch, a fountain, a basin, a pool, a pergola and a pond, and yet more marble and tiles. When there were still no other buildings adjacent to the garden, allowing abundant light, the vegetation flourished with joyful exuberance. We can see this in Sorolla s paintings: roses, geraniums, oleanders, violets and myrtle brought from the Alhambra and planted personally by Sorolla. The house itself, therefore, should be viewed as another of the artist s works, a product of his personality and desires. When Sorolla died, his widow bequeathed the house, along with its collections, to the state in her will (1925) in order to 10

5 create a museum; the legacy was subsequently expanded with further donations by their children. The Museum was opened in 1932 and its first director was Sorolla s only son, Joaquín Sorolla García, who added to the legacy and created the Foundation. The focus of the collections is, of course, Sorolla s painting. The Museum s collection is the largest set of works by the artist housed in a single institution. Sorolla kept works he had painted for pleasure or because they were family portraits not intended for sale. Therefore it is a very personal collection of the artist s work, complete with numerous drawings and colour notes, notebooks painted in oils in which the artist was continually collecting his impressions. In addition, the Museum contains all the furniture and the other collections that decorated the house during Sorolla s lifetime: sculptures and ceramics, in particular, and all kinds of painting equipment, including the painter s easels, palettes and brushes. NOTE: The visitor may find changes in the arrangement of the paintings in some rooms. This is because the Museo Sorolla often temporarily lends paintings to other museums for exhibitions, while some changes to the paintings on display are due to the Museum s own temporary exhibitions. 11

6 First floor Ground floor Lower ground floor Garden 12

7 Museum visit The floors of Sorolla s house in the Museum are (in the order of the visit): Lower ground floor: information desk, ticket counter and andalusian courtyard Ground floor: rooms I, II and III (artist s studio), living room, ante-room and dining room First floor: temporary exhibitions (rooms IV to VII) Garden (the garden is crossed at the beginning and the end of the visit) NOTE: The architecture of the house features split levels connected by steps, which so far has prevented the Museum from being accessible to people with reduced mobility. To maintain the original atmosphere of Sorolla s house as much as possible there are no barriers separating visitors from the exhibits, they are protected electronically. Visitors are urged to respect the collections. Please do not touch the exhibits. 13

8 Entrance Reception area Information desk and ticket counter Shop Andalusian courtyard Toilets 14

9 Lower ground floor Andalusian courtyard For various practical reasons, the visit does not start at the front door of the house, but in the Andalusian Courtyard on the lower ground floor, which the visitor reaches after crossing the garden. The ticket counter is here so it is the starting point for visiting the Museum. This floor originally housed the kitchen and other servants areas, organised around the courtyard, referred to as the Cordobes Courtyard in old inventories of the Museum. Sorolla, who knew Andalusia well after numerous trips, filled his home with Andalusian touches. The eclectic architecture of the time had no qualms about blending various styles. In the centre of the courtyard there is a fountain, with its basin covered with blue and white tiles from Triana. As in the garden, Sorolla used ancient Genovese columns and capitals for the arcades. The patio tiles contribute to the Andalusian character of the courtyard although they are actually from Toledo, manufactured by Ruiz de Luna. The wall decoration is completed with two 18 th century ceramic panels from Manises, Valencia: one with a hunting scene and the other featuring the patron saints of cooking, Casilda and Pascual Bailón. Sorolla decorated the galleries with part of his pottery collection on wooden shelves, now replaced by stonework. To the right and opposite the archway, there is Valencian pottery from the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, mainly from the town of Manises; then there is a panel with a barber s basin, mancerinas (bowls for drinking chocolate), plates and stoups from Manises and Alcora. The next panel has modern bowls and plates from Paterna. On shelves 15

opposite them, there are various examples of traditional pottery and on the floor there is a large basin from Fajalauza. On the next wall there is a display of traditional crockery.

10 opposite them, there are various examples of traditional pottery and on the floor there is a large basin from Fajalauza. On the next wall there is a display of traditional crockery. Beyond the large window there is modern pottery, green from Paterna and blue from Fajalauza. Traditional furniture completes the decoration. There are modern wicker chairs made in Seville, Valencia and Mallorca, 16

11 and 18 th century chestnut tables from the Basque Country, some of which were here during Sorolla s lifetime. Besides some sculptural pieces, such as the portrait of Clotilde, there are plaster casts by José Capuz. Going back into the garden you go up a spectacular staircase entirely lined with tiles to enter the ground floor of the Museum. 17

12 Entrance Room I Room II Room III Staircase to temporary exhibition room Living room Ante-room Dining room Way out Porch 18

13 Ground floor Room I. Introduction to the Work of Joaquín Sorolla This room serves as an introduction to the artist s work, showing a retrospective selection of paintings from the main stages of his career. It is completed with short descriptions set out in the central display cases, accompanied by some of the medals awarded to the painter throughout his life, such as the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition Grand Prix and the Medal of Honour of the 1901 National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Madrid. There are also other distinctions, such as the medals of the orders of Saint Olaf, Charles III, Isabel the Catholic, Alfonso XII and the French Legion of Honour. On the first wall of the room, Sorolla s self-portrait and portraits of his family act as hosts, welcoming visitors and reminding them that the generosity of their legacy is the origin of the Museum. This room follows a chronological order. This is not possible in the rest of the Museum as the strong personality of each room, the presence of abundant furniture and the desire to maintain an atmosphere similar to that of the house in Sorolla s time do not allow a didactic presentation of the collections. 19

15 Clotilde in Evening Dress 1910 Oil on canvas cm Inventory No. 949 Clotilde, Sorolla s wife, was undoubtedly his favourite model. The Museum has an extensive gallery with portraits of her from the early years of their marriage until her later years in very different settings. Petite and always slender, Clotilde disliked her slim figure and often signed her letters to Sorolla with your ugly one and your skinny one. Yet Sorolla painted her again and again, ever more elegant, and ever more interesting. Sorolla was a successful portraitist, and his style was refined over time, especially after contact with the worldly elegance of the portraits by the American painter John Singer Sargent, a friend of his. In this portrait, Clotilde s position, her body upright and slightly leaning forward, and her left arm on her hip, reveals the strength of character that Sorolla always admired in her. The fine style of her evening gown reveals not only the great social position that the family now enjoyed, but a mature taste in which Sorolla certainly played a part as he always took an interest in fashion. On his travels abroad he took note of the latest trends and bought new clothes, hats and other accessories for his wife and daughters.

16 Self-Portrait 1909 Oil on canvas cm Inventory No. 840 This self-portrait is one of eight displayed in the Museum. It was painted at a very important moment in the painter s life upon his return from the United States after the extraordinary success of his solo exhibition, which had opened in New York at the Hispanic Society of America. This success was repeated in Buffalo and Boston, providing him with professional and economic security. Although he paints himself in his studio, he is wearing an elegant grey felt hat he had bought in Boston, following a long tradition among painters of painting themselves in formal dress rather than working clothes. In this portrait, dedicated to his wife, the intensity of the gaze seems to reinforce its intimate nature.

My Children 1904 Oil on canvas 160.5 230.5 cm Inventory No. 651 This painting shows us the artist s three children: Joaquín standing, and the two girls sitting.

18 My Children 1904 Oil on canvas cm Inventory No. 651 This painting shows us the artist s three children: Joaquín standing, and the two girls sitting. María, the eldest, sits on the left, while Elena, the youngest, is on the right. The inclusion of this painting in several international exhibitions attests to the importance Sorolla attached to it, not only because of the familiarity of the scene, but also as proof of his artistic progression and maturity. Sorolla certainly had Velázquez in mind when transforming a family portrait into an ambitious painting that is able to transcend this private setting. It has often been remarked that Sorolla s inspiration for this work came from The Meninas, mainly due to the placing of the group of figures in a space which is developed behind them in great depth, the inclusion of a canvas prepared for a portrait in the margin of the painting itself, and the intense atmospheric suggestiveness. 24

Restoration Process. El chico de la gallina (Boy with Hen), 1913 by Manuel Benedito. Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection

Restoration Process. El chico de la gallina (Boy with Hen), 1913 by Manuel Benedito. Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Restoration Process El chico de la gallina (Boy with Hen), 1913 by Manuel Benedito Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Retrospective on the painter Manuel Benedito (1875-1963) San Fernando Royal Academy