Lot 19
  • 19

Joaquín Sorolla

Estimate
500,000 - 700,000 GBP
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Description

  • Tarde tormentosa (Stormy Afternoon)
  • signed and dated J. Sorolla Bastida / 1904 lower right
  • oil on canvas
  • 48 by 78cm., 19 by 30¾in.

Provenance

Galería Witcomb, Buenos Aires, by 1927
Adalberto Fontana, Montevideo, by 1963
Manuel Galatas, Madrid (purchased in 1965); thence by descent to the present owner

Exhibited

Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition Sorolla y Bastida, 1906, probably no. 7, 48, or 194 (all titled Jour de tempête, Valence)
Rome, Esposizione internazionale di Roma, Spanish Pavilion, 1911
Buenos Aires, Exposición de Arte Español, representada por obras originales de distinguidos artistas españoles, Salón Witcomb, 1927, no. 38

Literature

Bernadino de Pantorba, La vida y la obra de Joaquín Sorolla, Madrid, 1970, p. 58, no. 2162, catalogued & illustrated
Sorolla and the Paris Years, exh., cat., Munich, Paris, Madrid, 2016, p. 85, fig. 39 (illustrated in a 1906 photograph of the Galerie Georges Petit)

Condition

The canvas has been lined and is securely attached to a keyed wooden stretcher. Inspection under ultra-violet light reveals a small area of retouching in the far lower right corner, one area just above the signature possibly addressing an old repair, some scattered strokes in the sky and along the right framing edge, and some other minor, isolated spots. Otherwise, this work presents well, is in good overall condition and is ready to hang. Presented in a decorative gilt frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Painted on Cabañal beach, Valencia, in 1904, Tarde tormentosa is a veritable mood painting, a fleeting impression of windswept beach executed in an equally free, breezy brushstroke. Beneath a leaden sky, fishing boats lie grounded on the sand. Either it is the end of the day and the fisherman are preparing to go home, or the day's fishing has been called off due to the rough sea. One of a series of increasingly spontaneous scenes of the beach at Valencia, the freedom of execution and liveliness of spirit that the work exhibits are qualities that go to the heart of Sorolla's aesthetic and account for the artist's enduring popularity.

Perhaps spurred by his success at the Exposition Universelle in Paris four years earlier, at which he was awarded the Grand Prix for Triste herencia, his painting of orphaned boys bathing in the sea, in the years that followed Sorolla explored new and more experimental compositions. The present work exudes a raw vitality in subject and execution that is notably absent from the more narrative and moralistic Triste herencia. Likewise, in its contemporary edge, it marks itself out from the more bucolic depictions of women and children by the sea, and of fishermen hauling in the catch that more often define his Valencian subject matter. The result is a strikingly modern image that captures the energy of the elements that were just as much part of life beside the sea.