Valencian artist Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923) has returned to the
Alhambra
this summer with his Gardens of Light, a travelling exhibition that
will have three different settings: the Palazzo dei Diamanti, seat of
the Gallerie d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Ferrara (Italy), the
Palace of Carlos V Museum of Fine Arts, in Granada, and Madrid’s Sorolla Museum.
The
exhibition, commissioned by a committee of experts made up of Tomás
Llorens, Blanca Pons-Sorolla, María López Fernández and Boye Llorens,
aims to show Sorolla’s fascination with gardens, fortified after his
trip to Andalusia and, particularly, his experiences in the
Alhambra, and the impression caused on him by the Sierra Nevada with its white blanket of snow.
The
exhibition retraces the encounter between Joaquín Sorolla and
Andalusia – its millenarian culture, the landscapes of the Sierra
Nevada, the Arab courtyards and gardens of the
Alhambra,
and the Alcazar of Seville all providing inspiration and material in
the form of clear, lyrical visions. In these compositions, human
presence is banished and flora, marble, tiles, light and colours all
come to life. The artist’s brush conveys reflections on water, light
filtering through and dissolving geometrical architecture, and the
colourful mosaic of the southern garden.
Sorolla. Gardens of Light
is broken down into five sections (Earth, Water, Courtyards, Gardens,
and the Garden of the Sorolla House), all contributing, without a
doubt, to a better understanding of the work of the Valencian painter,
who continued to reflect on the possibilities of his art until the very
end of his life. The exhibition focuses on a crucial moment in the
creative life of the painter, the years of his full maturity and,
specifically, the works arising from his fascination with gardens and
his meeting with Andalusia, which affected him so deeply as to make him
remodel the poesy and style of his work in his later years.
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| Hall of Ambassadors, Alhambra |
After his visit to the
Alhambra in 1909, Sorolla painted vistas of the Alhambra and Generalife time and time again, including
Torre de los Siete Picos,
the Court of the Myrtles,
the Lindaraja Mirador,
the Comares Court and
the Garden of Daraxa, this last dated to 1917.
In
Andalusia, Sorolla, considered one of the most fascinating figures of
the Spanish art world of the 19th and 20th centuries, discovered a
subdued richness, a source of poetry, contained in shady corners, the
murmur of water in the fountains and in the silence of sun-bathed
courtyards. His own garden, planned and laid out at that time, further
transmitted and amplified his metamorphosis.
