“Strolling along the Seashore”
For today, one from the painter of Spanish light..
This lovely and carefree oil on canvas painting is by the Spanish artist, Joaquín Sorolla, and is titled “Strolling along the Seashore”, from 1909. Sorolla is most known for his plein air Impressionism inspired paintings portraying both the Spanish people and landscapes under the bright sun, such as this piece here, though his work is much broader.
1909 was a great year for Sorolla. He had his first solo art show in the United States and returned home after selling many of his works and securing over 20 commissions, including a portrait of the then sitting US president, William Howard Taft.
In this piece, Sorolla depicts his wife on the left, and his daughter on the right walking along the shoreline. The forward angle of his daughter as she is walking, the form of the dresses in the wind, and the rolling of the waves all depict movement and give this piece a sort of life of its own. It was obviously dear to him, as he held it in his possession until his death.
Though landscapes were Sorolla’s passion, portraits were where the steadier income came from. To make his portraits more appealing for him to work on, Sorolla would often paint his subjects outside in the bright sunlight.
The downward angle of the subjects, the absence of the horizon, and the cutting off of one of the figure’s sunhats are all part of a technique known as photographic framing, in which the painted canvas emulates a photograph.
“Strolling along the Seashore” is currently in the collections of the Sorolla Museum in Madrid, Spain.
For more on Joaquín Sorolla, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
