Sargent & Sorolla

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) studied painting from the age of 15 in his native Valencia, then in Madrid and eventually Rome. On his return to Spain, he became the major portraitist of his time, and worked with subjects including King Alphonso and Queen Victoria Eugénie. Like John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), whose career was unfolding on American shores, Sorolla remained firmly outside of the Impressionist vanguard and was all but indifferent to other popular artistic movements of the day, but nevertheless achieved international renown in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Both artists focused on society portraits but also undertook independent work and commissions for cultural institutions. Text in English.,