Joaquín Sorolla was a late 19th -century and early 20th -century painter form Valencia. He studied in Rome, Paris and Madrid, where he was acquainted with, and admired, the work of Velazquez. He painted in the “costumbrista” style, which showed Spanish traditions, such as Valencian fisherman. The light was always a major feature of his landscapes. He also made portraits of prominent members of Madrid society. This earned him fame and recognition, and he even painted the king and queen of Spain, Alfonso XIII and his wife Victoria Eugenia. There is a superb museum at the artist´s house in Madrid, which can be visited.

His beach scenes led him to become a highly sought-after artist. His Walk by the Sea, in which he painted his wife and daughter, is his most famous picture, along with the one we see here, Children on the Beach. We can see how the main feature of his work is always the light. It is so strong that he has even been classified as a “Luminist” rather than an Impressionist, due to the influence of Mediterranean light on his pictures, especially in his Valencian beaches. The children´s skin shines, bathed by the seawater, conveying the sense of wet bodies playing in water and sand, just like children do on any Mediterranean beach.

(c) (R) 2013, MUSMon com S.L.
Text (a) Catalina Serrano Romero
English translation (a) Thisbe Burns