Sorolla and America – March 7, 2014 Author: Blanca Pons Sorolla | Language: English | ISBN:
6078310011 | Format: PDF
Sorolla and America – March 7, 2014 Description
About the Author
Blanca Pons-Sorolla is the great-granddaughter of artist Joaquín Sorolla and the author of Joaquín Sorolla (London, 2005) and world authority on Sorolla's works. - Hardcover: 340 pages
- Publisher: Ediciones El Viso America (March 7, 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 6078310011
- ISBN-13: 978-6078310012
- Product Dimensions: 13 x 9.7 x 1.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 5.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
We travel to Spain once a year, but it has taken me a while to catch on to Sorolla. Part of this stems from the fact that you're so overwhelmed with art in a place like Spain, that it is hard keeping track of it all. I was actually somewhat familiar with Sorolla from years back, when there was a Spanish art exhibit here in Albuquerque. Some of Sorolla's pieces were represented and I remember them well. Once in Spain, however, the Picasso's, Velazquez' and others commanded my attention.
Even so, I bought a book on Sorolla's work a few years back and was intrigued by what I saw. This perked my interest and so I started looking more into this artist. I found out, for example, that it is possible to tour one of Sorolla's homes in Madrid. Here we had been in Madrid years prior, and never knew that. Not this time. We visited it last fall. It's a museum unto itself.
Coincidentally, our last trip took us to Valencia, where Sorolla did much of his painting. The Bellas Artes Museum there has a great collection of his work; much of it represented in this book. We also went to San Sebastián, and though we didn't know at the time that Sorolla had painted many of his seaside scenes there, we recognized it when we saw his work in Valencia.
Ok, enough of that. On with this book.
This book is simply amazing. It is a huge volume, 350 pages of pure substance. Yes, there are lots of photos of Sorolla's work---many of which I had not seen before---but it is much more than that. Whereas a lot of art books have 20 or so pages of text---the rest being the art---this book provides a nice balance. There is a lot of text, distributed between 14+ chapters.
Every art-lover always remembers their first exposure to the paintings of Sorolla as a kind of sensual awakening.
I unexpectedly discovered the luminous, Impressionistic art of Sorolla back in 1989 at his legendary exhibition held at the San Diego Museum of Art in California. Afterwards, I made sacred pilgrimages to view his art at the gorgeous, (but nearly abandoned) Hispanic Society of America in New York as well as the little-known Museo Sorolla in Madrid, Spain. It was disconcerting to often be the sole visitor in these color-drenched galleries. As a young painter myself, I marveled at this Spaniard's talent, vision and passionate contributions to culture. Two decades ago, books on this master were still shockingly rare, because the general international art world had purposely neglected him, refusing to give him his due respects, dismissing his canvases as remnants from the past which had no place in our smirking, harsh contemporary world. Today, with deep thanks to his Great Granddaughter Blanca Pons-Sorolla, his reputation has grown and sustained. In recent years, Sorolla has since been honored by the Prado and the nation of Spain as one of the greatest artists in history. The Hispanic Society of America has cleaned and rehung his breathtaking "Visions of Spain" cycle. Madrid's Museo Sorolla has become a key art-destination for the enlightened traveller, and large, important Sorolla exhibitions are now heavily attended. These days, the public loves Sorolla. Painters champion him as a timeless idol. He is out of the shadows and in the light, where he belongs.
Today, A variety of fine books on Sorolla's art are available. With the publication of Sorolla And America, one might ask: is this latest volume really outstanding? Does it deliver something which the others have not?
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