An exhibition in his museum tells his story, from his childhood to his death, with pieces that the painter treasured
One hundred objects, each one with a small story behind it, to make up the story of a lifetime. Of all the ways that exist to (re)discover the universe of Joaquín Sorolla Bastida (1863-1923), perhaps this is the most unique. Delve into who he was, how he grew up, who she associated with, where he traveled, who he loved, how he triumphed or how he died These days it is possible through those pieces – everyday, curious, rare or even exotic – that the artist treasured and that the museum that bears his name, in its last attempt to show a new perspective not only about the painter but also about the man, has brought together in an exhibition (until September 29) that closes the program with which, during the last year, it has commemorated the centenary of his death.
Throughout his life, Sorolla accumulated more than 2,300 pieces, which have been preserved by his family and his museum since his disappearance. Of them, curator Covadonga Pitarch, after arduous research, has selected a hundred to put together this exhibition, 25 of them never seen before.
Everything, from the expected to the strange, can be discovered in Sorolla in 100 objects. Letters, photographs, drawings, books, paintings, sculptures, religious elements, Japanese art… Pieces that make up an atypical biography and that tell us about the personality of the artist, his friendships, his concerns, his hobbies or his personal tastes, through his own memories – intimate in certain cases – and also through his painting .
From one of his most appreciated and primitive objects, a portrait with the photographs of his parentsthose he lost when he was only two years old, his last work, unfinished, there is a whole life, full of details, that are narrated here.
The exhibition starts with the history of his childhood, how tragedy later turned into happiness, through photographs and paintings of his uncles, with whom he grew up. And he continues on Romethe city in which he spent his youth growing up and where he forged important friendships such as that of Pedro Gil Moreno de Morawith whom letters were exchanged that can be read in the display cases of the exhibition.
The tour illustrates how Sorolla always felt attached to his homeland, Valencia -with images of him and his wife there-, and how his references were mainly Levantine. Although not only the Valencian teachers They influenced his painting. Mariano Fortuny and Eduardo Rosales were a path to follow for him, an aspect that is reflected through paintings and memories that the artist collected from them.
Art books of luxurious editions, by Velázquez or El Greco, stand out in the space covered by the Sorolla library, made up of more than 700 volumes. And works by artists like Auguste Rodin, Anders Zorn or Mariano Benlliurethe result of gifts and exchanges from friends whom he met on his frequent international trips, stand out in the section that talks about how Sorolla was an artist among artists.
In his career he taught and trained other younger painters, such as Manuel Benedito and Tomás Murillo, who formed the group known as sorollistas and of whom some works dedicated to his mentor are exhibited. There is also space to highlight the women who were trained in their workshoplike Yvonne Serruys, whose sculptures are on display.
The trajectory of their childrenthat in one way or another they followed in his footsteps – María and Joaquín painted and Elena preferred sculpture – is evident with works created by them and that the painter kept, as well as photographs that bear witness to how they took lessons from their own father.
In his desire for knowledge, the painter began a work as collector of pieces -he enjoyed buying and he called himself a “wasteful”- that was not only limited to Western art. Among the pieces that he treasured, a Japanese calendar, a Noh theater mask, Moroccan bracelets, a 10th century caliphal capital, a relief of the Holy Trinity from the 16th century or a magical-religious belt of amulets. Beautiful and artistic objects that the painter used to decorate his house.
The end of the tour gives importance to the success and popularity that Sorolla enjoyed during his lifetime. A photograph of American President Taft, whom he painted, a caricature, his passport or the medal from the Paris Universal Exhibition, where he won the Grand Prix in 1900, attest to this. And among his last brushstrokes stands out a self-portrait dedicated to his wife Clotildea large format oil painting of her and him Portrait of Mabel Rickbefore which the disease attacked him.
