- 19
Joaquín Sorolla
Description
- Tarde tormentosa (Stormy Afternoon)
- signed and dated J. Sorolla Bastida / 1904 lower right
- oil on canvas
- 48 by 78cm., 19 by 30¾in.
Provenance
Adalberto Fontana, Montevideo, by 1963
Manuel Galatas, Madrid (purchased in 1965); thence by descent to the present owner
Exhibited
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
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
"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
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.