Los paisajes de Sorolla

One of Joaquín Sorolla’s greatest passions was painting outdoors, using nature as his model, a predilection that he discovered in his youth, as a student. Many of his fellow students have recounted that before classes began at 8 o’clock in the morning, Sorolla would be out wandering around the outskirts of Valencia, looking for good locations to paint landscapes. 

In homage to the Valencian artist’s great love for painting in the open air, Artika and the Sorolla Foundation are delighted to present Los paisajes de Sorolla (Sorolla’s landscapes). This book represents a journey guided by the great artist through the places and settings that he wandered through, painted, and loved throughout his life, in the form of a selection of drawings, in a single, limited edition of 2,998 numbered copies. 

An Art Book, bound in cotton fabric that resembles a canvas and featuring a reproduction of part of the painting Vendimiando. Jerez (The grape harvest. Jerez, 1914), contains 71 drawings which follow the theme of landscapes. They are reproduced in facsimile format, die-cut like the originals and glued into the book. The painstaking selection of works, carried out by the Sorolla Museum, shows all the different kinds of landscapes the artist produced, as well as the different techniques he used, including pencil, charcoal, ink, chalk, watercolours and gouache.

The volume is divided up into six chapters which contain large format fold-out reproductions of paintings by Sorolla, all with a landscape-related theme.

A Study Book (which is in itself a unique work) helps the reader to explore the artist’s life and work, thanks to explanations and criticism from leading experts, including the painter’s great-granddaughter, Blanca Pons-Sorolla, researchers at the Sorolla Museum and the Director for the Conservation of 19th-century Paintings at the Prado Museum. 

Los paisajes de Sorolla includes two plates with great artistic value, presented in Art Folders that are designed so the plates can be exhibited individually. These two drawings feature two of the techniques most commonly used by Sorolla – one in pencil, Orillas del Tajo, Villaseca (On the banks of the Tajo, Villaseca, 1882-1888), while the other uses the combined technique of pencil and watercolours: Paisaje con río y dos torres (Landscape with river and two towers, 1882). 

All the items are presented in an impressive case, handmade and comprised of two polymethacrylate pieces, 2.5 cm thick, and featuring an engraving of the artist’s signature. It represents a window on to the landscapes that Sorolla explored, enjoyed and painted.