Exhibition: Sorolla: Spanish Master of Light
2019; Royal College of General Practitioners; Volume: 69; Issue: 683 Linguagem: Inglês
10.3399/bjgp19x703985
ISSN1478-5242
Autores Tópico(s)Architecture and Art History Studies
ResumoTHE EXTRAORDINARY EVERYDAYAt first you don't even notice the heavily laden trio nearing the top of their perilous ascent.You can just make out the join where Sorolla extended the canvas by a third, using symmetry to dissolve their packs into the rock face.The blinding panoramic brilliance of sun-drenched boulders meets risk and illicit thrill.Both are answered by the deep glinting Mediterranean azure.Playful, breezy, and technically flawless, The Smugglers (image below) was commissioned by the American 'king of tobacco' and perfectly encapsulates the artist's joyful quintessence.Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) is probably the most famous artist you've never heard of.Wildly successful in his time, his work was commissioned by governments, industrial magnates, aristocrats, and even the sitting US president (William Howard Taft, in 1909).New Yorkers queued in the snow to view his work and his last UK exhibition -101 years ago -billed him as 'the world's greatest living painter'.It is easy to understand the appeal.The 60 curated paintings in the exhibition demonstrate astounding technical range, a keen eye for social observation, and -above all -consummate mastery of movement, texture, and sunlight.His first job as a young photographer's lighting assistant was clearly formative and imbued a keen eye for composition.
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