Sorolla Up Close: A Trip to the Hispanic Society of America in New York

Sorolla Painting on the Beach at Valencia

Anyone who is familiar with the extraordinary paintings of Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) realizes that to fully appreciate his work, one must see it in person, up close. Often mistakenly labelled an Impressionist, Sorolla, who knew the Impressionist’s work, went far beyond Impressionism, inventing his own unique manner of expression which he termed, “naturalism”. In terms of purity of expression, Sorolla’s mature painting style was derived from Velasquez, who is often claimed to be the precursor to Impressionism. It was Velazquez who pioneered the use of the free alla prima brushwork which he used to suggest light and atmosphere. Sorolla was not interested in completely disintegrating form in favor of color and tone, as the Impressionists Monet, Pissarro and Sisley were experimenting with. Along with his contemporaries John Singer Sargent and Anders Zorn, Sorolla believed that the way forward was to build u…