Fascinated by Sorolla: The light of the sea and the colour of the landscape

Why do Sorolla's paintings continue to fascinate us? The anniversary of his birth is this 27 February, and at ARTIKA we would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the artist who best knew how to capture the light, the sea and landscapes of the Mediterranean.

A studio that stretched as far as the eye could see

If someone mentions “the painter of light” and beach and sea scenes, the artist who immediately comes to mind is Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923), a painter who created images bathed in a light that has a life of its own. When you look at a painting like Walk on the Beach, for example, you can feel the sun on your face and the sea breeze on your skin, smell the salty air and see all of nature's colours in all their nuances. Because the artist's mastery manages to freeze the moment and capture every reflection.

To achieve this degree of perfection, Sorolla walked along paths and beaches, sketched and studied colours and movements. He worked tirelessly and managed to produce an extensive body of work that includes over 4,000 paintings and 9,000 drawings.

Inspiration from the outdoors

Direct contact with nature was a constant in Sorolla's creative process. Yet he not only captured open landscapes and intense light: his work manages to transmit emotions and moods. When looking at his paintings, one feels the impatience of the fisherwomen waiting for their husbands and the joy of the children playing on the shore.

In the words of the writer Blasco Ibáñez, Sorolla reproduces “the gold of light, the invisible colour of the air, the pulsating blue of the Mediterranean”. He is also a master visual storyteller, a chronicler who gives us a glimpse into the everyday life of the people who lived between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Sorolla's sea and landscapes

How do you capture a fleeting moment? How do you transfer light to the canvas? The answers are in two ARTIKA books that collect a selection of drawings by Joaquín Sorolla: El mar de Sorolla (Sorolla’s Sea) and Los paisajes de Sorolla (Sorolla’s landscapes). Two previously out-of-print artist's books that are now, for a limited time only, once again available to art lovers.

These two works reveal a little-known facet of Joaquín Sorolla: the drawings that helped him to develop his artistic eye and to refine the spontaneity and precision of his use of the brush. His method of sketching from life helped him to forge a style with enormous expressive freedom.

Thanks to these exclusive editions, today we can appreciate how his emblematic paintings were born. And in each of his drawings we discover the inspiration and humanist spirit that set his masterpieces apart.

Two exclusive editions are available again for a limited time only.

Don't miss the opportunity. ARTIKA gives you the chance to discover images, details and nuances that were captured forever in Joaquín Sorolla’s private notebooks and that now reveal moments of pure creation.