JOAQUÍN SOROLLA | Familia Valenciana (The Young Family)

Sale: Durán, Madrid, 22 February 1988, lot 57
Private collection, Spain (purchased in 2016)

Valencia, Palacio de la Scala, Los pintores valencianos en las Escuelas de Roma y París 1870 - 1900, 1990, illustrated in the catalogue

Tiempo, 28 February 1988, illustrated
ABC, 3 March 1988, illustrated
Blanca Pons-Sorolla, Joaquín Sorolla. Vida y obra, Madrid, 2001, p. 136, no. 54, catalogued & illustrated, p. 729, no. 54, listed

Since the birth of his first child Maria in 1890, the theme of family pervaded Sorolla’s work. This exquisite painting evokes the intimacy and vibrancy of this family scene, frozen in time by Sorolla’s expressive brushstrokes and use of colour. Though the mother and children are sheltered in the shade of the trees, the sunlight pierces the canopy and speckles both the figures and the floor. The father, in contrast, is fully illuminated behind them. Sorolla powerfully captures the warm atmosphere and the dazzling effect of the light that he experienced whilst painting. The family are depicted among the famous Benimamet caves, on the outskirts of Valencia. Sorolla’s depiction of the caves, nestled amidst Valencia’s renowned orchards, reveals the influence of Jules Bastien-Lepage from Sorolla’s trip to Paris in 1885 and a subsequent desire to adopt a naturalistic subject matter, to represent the landscape and people of the artist’s beloved homeland.

The choice of subject, skilful technique and ambition of the present work are testament to why this period in particular was one of the most important in Sorolla’s career and justifies his rapidly increasing popularity on an international scale.



The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Blanca Pons Sorolla, who will be including it in the forthcoming Sorolla catalogue raisonné (BPS 4025).