Sorolla Catalogs from El Prado Exhibition have arrived!
The book can be ordered directly from HERE. Thank you for all the interest!
Joaquin Sorolla painting in his studio, photograph. Museo Sorolla, Madrid.
The Sorolla catalogs from El Prado Exhibition have arrived and by now all of you that preordered the book have it in your hands or will by Monday. My description of the catalog was greatly understated, and dramatically exceeds my expectations. The 7 pound product, contains 536 pages not 256 that I advertised. Print quality is excellent, color appears very true, binding- excellent, layout and presentation-excellent in my opinion. Five star job by the Publications Department, Museo Nacional del Prado. Over 300 images are included, and I have never seen most of them in person or in published works. It belongs in every oil painter’s library and should become dog-eared and tattered with use. Those are the appropriate signs of respect for a much loved quality book.
I have only had a chance to scan the book but it is clear that this book needs to be read and not just viewed for it’s extraordinary images. The editorial contributors provide the story of Sr. Sorolla’s artistic journey and include the painters that influenced him. I was delighted to see that Jules Bastien La Page, primarily along with Adolph Menzel, were in the forefront . Of course Anders Zorn was a contemporary and painted a portrait of Sorolla.
Joaquin Sorolla, Return From Fishing
1894 oil on canvas, 265 x 325cm, Musee d’Orsay, Paris
(Click cropped image to view full size)
The Exhibition catalog features 11 images including color sketches used in developing this huge painting. What a treat to follow the steps. Exhibited in the 1895 Salon to rave reviews, one follows: critic Charles Yriarte, wrote “ .Once again a foreigner—Joaquim Sorolla from Valencia—who sounds the most resonant note and produces the strongest impression. Returning from Fishing is one of the finest works at the Salon. It is redolent with the taste of seaweed and the sounds of sea at calm…”
Joaquin Sorolla, Maria Dressed as a Valencian Peasant Girl
1906 oil on canvas 189 x 95cm, private collection
(Click cropped image to view full size)
Sorolla wrote to a friend, “I am still working on a sensation of light for my exhibition. I’m including the measurements for a stretcher: 189 x 95cm. Bianca Pons-Sorolla adds, “These brief words best express Sorolla’s intentions when he produced this splendid exercise in light and color, whose protagonist is the elder of his two daughters. She is dressed in typical colorful costume of Valencian peasant women, attire that logically have appealed to the artist because of its picturesque charm and evocation of his native land”.
Joaquin Sorolla, Sewing the Sale
1904 Oil on canvas 93 x 130cm Sorolla Masaveu Collection
(Click cropped image to view full size)
Following the lead of Bastien LePage, Sorolla stayed close to subjects close to his childhood: the work of craftsmen and fishermen in natural light.
We packed and shipped most of the shown supply of Sorolla Exhibition books the day following their afternoon arrival. Quite a task for our mini book store. We appreciate all of your support. We still have a supply of this book and at this time we can replenish our inventory in a weeks time.
Our website www.BarnsiteArtStudio.com or call us at 920 388 4391 Dick Bell
June 19, 2009
Tags: Books, Sorolla Posted in: Books
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