The National Gallery acquires its first painting by Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla

The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Friday, March 29, 2024


The National Gallery acquires its first painting by Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla
Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923), The Drunkard, Zarauz (El Borracho, Zarauz), 1910. Oil on canvas, 115 x 140 cm. Bought with the support of a generous legacy from David Leslie Medd, OBE, 2019 © The National Gallery, London.



LONDON.- The National Gallery has acquired its first painting by Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923).

The Drunkard, Zarauz (El Borracho, Zarauz), (1910), can be explored on the National Gallery website from today. The painting’s first visit to London was in 2019 for the exhibition Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light; the first major UK exhibition of the artist’s work in more than a hundred years at the National Gallery.

Over 167,000 people visited Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light, which featured more than sixty works by the artist known as Spain’s Impressionist, and whose last London exhibition, in 1908, advertised him as ‘The World’s Greatest Living Painter’.

The Drunkard, Zarauz was purchased for £325k with the support of a generous legacy from David Leslie Medd, OBE, 2019.

The newly acquired painting is a large-scale sketch, rapidly executed in situ as Sorolla trolled the taverns of Zarauz in the Basque Country where he and his family spent the summer of 1910.

Sorolla depicts the human drama of the devastating effects of alcoholism: five men in various states of inebriation gather in the shadowy interior of a tavern. One of them, more drunk than the others, stares through watery eyes directly at the artist as another pushes a glass of cider towards him, making fun of his drunken state.

Evidence of the artist’s hasty, improvisatory response to the ramshackle scene is seen in the rapid application of relatively thin layers of paint and the brilliant economy of brushstrokes where light and shadow are precisely evoked with minimal means.

That the artist never worked up a ‘finished’ tavern scene from Zarauz suggests that what he sought was that very fleeting sense of immediacy. That he was particularly pleased with The Drunkard, Zarauz is indicated by his decision to include it the following year in his second major American retrospective exhibition, at the Art Institute of Chicago.

The 1910 date of the picture is interesting as it was the first time in 10 years that Sorolla had turned to such dark themes. His Sad Inheritance (1899, Fondación Bancaja, Valencia), a haunting evocation of physical decline, depicts a crowd of sick and disabled naked children, including some using crutches due to polio, on the Malvarrosa beach in Valencia. That painting, which won the gold medal at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900, marked the end of the ‘social’ phase of his career. For the following decade Sorolla largely dedicated himself to elegant portraits and the sun-dappled scenes of leisure along the seacoasts of Spain on which world-wide renown during his lifetime was based.

Born in Valencia in 1863, Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida succeeded in becoming one of the world’s most famous painters during his lifetime. This was thanks to a unique technique that showed a deep allegiance to the tradition of Spanish painting while capturing the dazzling play of sunlight.

National Gallery Director, Dr Gabriele Finaldi, says ‘New pictures help to expand our understanding of the European painting tradition and enrich the story the Gallery tells, so we are delighted that this extraordinary picture now belongs to everyone, including future generations.’

He added, ‘Following the success of the Sorolla exhibition at the National Gallery in 2019, it is very pleasing to welcome the first work by him in the Gallery’s collection. The subject of a drunkard in a Basque tavern is perhaps untypical of the artist but the virtuosity of his brushstroke and the confident, sketch-like handling reveal him at his dazzling best.’

When the National Gallery reopens, The Drunkard, Zarauz will be on display in Room 41 with contemporary paintings from across Europe and America, adding a touch of social realism to the National Gallery’s collection of early 20th-century pictures by artists such as Cézanne, Renoir, Monet, Klimt and Bellows.

Christopher Riopelle, the National Gallery’s Neil Westreich Curator of Post-1800 Paintings, says ‘Around the time he painted The Drunkard, Zarauz Sorolla was contemplating the commission for the monumental painting cycle on the peoples and customs of his homeland, Vision of Spain (Hispanic Society of America, New York), on which he would spend the rest of his working life. As if in preparation, with this deeply human painting he returned to his engagement with the Spanish peasant and, perhaps as important, to making brilliant use once more of the indispensable Spanish colour; black.’

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida was born in Valencia in 1863. Sorolla was only two years old when both of his parents died in a cholera epidemic. Sorolla’s exceptional artistic talent was evident from a young age. He started exhibiting paintings at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in Madrid in his late teens, and in 1881, was accepted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Valencia. In 1884, not yet 21, he exhibited his first large history painting, which was acquired by the Spanish government.

In 1888 he married Clotilde García del Castillo, who was to be his muse and the subject of many of his pictures. They settled in Madrid in 1890 and went on to have three children.

Sorolla’s other great love was for his home city of Valencia and many of his best works, often painted ‘en plein air’, captured the effects of blazing Mediterranean sunlight and the seacoast of Valencia.

From 1890, Sorolla's career was a breathless succession of Spanish and international exhibitions, commissions for portraits, showers of honours and almost ceaseless travel. Paintings by him were exhibited in Munich, Paris, Chicago, Vienna, Venice, and as far as Buenos Aires. In 1895, his painting Return from Fishing (now in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris) was exhibited at the Paris Salon and then purchased by the French state, confirming his status as a major international figure. By 1900, he could be considered as the most famous of all living Spanish artists.

In 1911, Sorolla received his most ambitious commission to date, from the Hispanic Society of America, to paint a series of canvases to decorate their library. The result, Vision of Spain, depicting the regional costumes and customs of the major provinces of Spain, became an all-consuming project for several years.

Sadly, Sorolla never saw his epic mural cycle installed in New York as he suffered a stroke while painting in the garden in Spain, in June 1920. When he died, three years later, he was buried like a state hero.










Today's News

June 10, 2020

Rubens House in Antwerp presents new Peter Paul Rubens self-portrait

As the art world goes online, a generation gap opens

The National Gallery acquires its first painting by Spanish artist Joaquín Sorolla

Bonhams announces highlights included in its Modern British and Irish Art sale

Part of China's Great Wall not built for war: Study

Mask-clad music lovers trickle in as Vienna concert houses reopen

'Pointer Sisters' founding member Bonnie dead at 69

Phillips unveils highlights for Hong Kong July sales of jewels and jadeite

Renaissance in France's Loire Valley: 'rebirth' for Chambord castle

Street art star unveils Paris mural to George Floyd, Adama Traore

Theater artists decry racism in their industry

Zeit Contemporary Art opens 'Andy Warhol: The Last Decade'

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam announces the appointment of Yvette Mutumba and Adam Szymczyk as curators-at-large

Martin Myrone appointed Convenor of the British Art Network

Salzburg Festival saves 100th edition with slimmed-down event

A 22-metre-high bronze sculpture by the Belgian artist Thomas Lerooy installed in Knokke

Manifesta 13 Marseille announces the participants of its central exhibition

Alessio Bolzoni presents billboard project in Milan

Leading artists donate works to 100 NHS staff respite rooms across 5 east London hospitals

Delineating Dreams: Inaugural exhibition from Kovet.Art

Oscar Castillo photography exhibit open for private viewing at The Muck

Powerful portraits by Amoako Boafo offered at Bonhams Modern & Contemporary Art sale

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts receives $2M gift to endow curatorial position

Taymour Grahne opens an online solo exhibition of new paintings by Craig Kucia

Overcoming artist's block - 7 ways to jumpstart creativity

Why do you need World of Warcraft boosting right now?

Fun Facts About Sudoku, From World Guinness Records To Solo-Fun At Home

Know these before playing casino online

Woodshop tools and equipment that you should own

5 Types Brain Injury from Car Accident You Must Know




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful