拍品專文
Blanca Pons Sorolla will include this painting in her forthcoming Sorolla catalogue raisonn.
Many of Sorolla's most beautiful beach scenes were painted in Valencia during the summer of 1908. This was a period of intense activity for Sorolla as he was preparing for his one-man show at the Hispanic Society of America in 1909, and his introduction to the American market. Almost without exception, his Valencian beach scenes depict children playing by the sea. The overall mood of these paintings is joyful, innocent and spontaneous; almost as if Sorolla had captured a specific moment in time similar to the effects of a photograph. The sunshine is always brilliant and dazzling. It reflects off the sea and on the glistening bodies of the children who play on the shore, the light often becomes so bright that their faces become concealed by pure reflection.
In Sobre la arena, playa de Valencia three children (two boys who are naked as was the custom and a young girl, covered by a pink towel) resting on the shore. The composition is daring; the background is divided into three parts of wet sand, blue water and a horizontal band of frothy white waves at the very top of the painting. We look down on the children, who are placed at a diagonal. Sunshine fills the entire canvas casting shadows and reflections in the water and on the wet bodies of the children. Sorolla's brilliant sunshine is only matched by his vibrant palette of blue-violet with touches of orange which represents the azure-blue water of the Mediterranean Sea and contrasts with the pinks and flesh tones of the young bathers' bodies and the pale yellow of the boy's straw hat.
As a painter of sunlight and color, Sorolla's reputation as the most important Spanish Impressionist painter is unmatched. His 1909 exhibition at the Hispanic Society of America was a great success, so much so that he returned to the United States two years later for a second show in Chicago. Again, he met with critical acclaim and sold many works to an American audience, eager to collect his paintings. Sobre la arena, playa de Valencia has been lost for over thirty years, and was recently discovered in a private mid-western American collection.
Many of Sorolla's most beautiful beach scenes were painted in Valencia during the summer of 1908. This was a period of intense activity for Sorolla as he was preparing for his one-man show at the Hispanic Society of America in 1909, and his introduction to the American market. Almost without exception, his Valencian beach scenes depict children playing by the sea. The overall mood of these paintings is joyful, innocent and spontaneous; almost as if Sorolla had captured a specific moment in time similar to the effects of a photograph. The sunshine is always brilliant and dazzling. It reflects off the sea and on the glistening bodies of the children who play on the shore, the light often becomes so bright that their faces become concealed by pure reflection.
In Sobre la arena, playa de Valencia three children (two boys who are naked as was the custom and a young girl, covered by a pink towel) resting on the shore. The composition is daring; the background is divided into three parts of wet sand, blue water and a horizontal band of frothy white waves at the very top of the painting. We look down on the children, who are placed at a diagonal. Sunshine fills the entire canvas casting shadows and reflections in the water and on the wet bodies of the children. Sorolla's brilliant sunshine is only matched by his vibrant palette of blue-violet with touches of orange which represents the azure-blue water of the Mediterranean Sea and contrasts with the pinks and flesh tones of the young bathers' bodies and the pale yellow of the boy's straw hat.
As a painter of sunlight and color, Sorolla's reputation as the most important Spanish Impressionist painter is unmatched. His 1909 exhibition at the Hispanic Society of America was a great success, so much so that he returned to the United States two years later for a second show in Chicago. Again, he met with critical acclaim and sold many works to an American audience, eager to collect his paintings. Sobre la arena, playa de Valencia has been lost for over thirty years, and was recently discovered in a private mid-western American collection.