An outstanding painter of the early 20th century, Valencia-born Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida is the focus of a new exhibition at the National Gallery, London. Remarkably, Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light is the first major exhibition in the UK in over a century, to explore the Spanish master’s work. There are few examples of his art in Britain yet at the turn of the 19th century, in Spain and across Europe, Sorolla was critically admired, his work readily collected and exhibited. A 1908 poster by Grafton Galleries, London, created for an exhibition of Sorolla’s art, named him “The World’s Greatest Living Painter”. The National Gallery introduces significant works by this master of Spanish impressionism.
Sorolla initially built his reputation on works of social commentary. Painting on monumentally-large canvases the realism…
