Joaquín Sorolla's Life In Madrid

Joaquín Sorolla was born in Valencia in 1863. He attended various schools throughout his youth and in these academies is where he first put tremendous focus on his skills as a drawer and painter. At one point in his life, he became an assistant to a well-known photographer and father of his later wife and muse, Clotilde. Before becoming a renowned painter himself, Sorolla discovered many influences from several cities. During the early 1880’s, Sorolla made frequent visits to Madrid, specifically the Prado Museum, where he copied artworks from distinguished artists such as Velázquez, Ribera and El Greco. After a successful exhibition in Madrid in 1884, Sorolla won a scholarship to study in Rome. There, he was able to study while being surrounded by many Italian as well as other Spanish artists. While studying in Italy, Sorolla made a trip to Paris where he was influenced by realist paintings. After completing his studies in Italy, Sorolla decided to establish a life in Madrid in 1900 when here began to concentrate on representing daily life through paintings featuring beach scenes full of light (Muller). Light represented through many shades of white and blue became a signature characteristic in many well-known Sorolla paintings. Specifically, these characteristics made an impactful debut in beach scenes detailing

It represents the scene in her life “after the bath”, which is what the title of the painting translates too. It has a simple narrative, but the contrasts in both texture and color immediately caught my attention when I first saw it. I observed the movement and drama behind the simplicity. I also found it very interesting to realize that this early painting has similar color characteristics that are similarly very distinctive of Sorolla’s later works of art. Mainly the blue tonality with white contrast, which is what Sorolla became most widely recognized