The collection

The Gallery

A selection of Sorolla's finest works — his Valencian beaches, his family, his gardens and the monumental Vision of Spain. Every image is in the public domain.

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In sequence

From Shadow into Sunlight

Shown in the order he painted them — from the sombre, socially charged canvases of his youth, like The White Slave Trade and Sad Inheritance, to the sunlit beaches and gardens of his maturity. Select any painting to see it large, with its date and collection.

A boy in a red jacket lies on the sand grinning beside a woman mending nets against the hull of a beached fishing boat, the sea behind — an early beach scene in Sorolla's darker Valencian palette.

The Beach Urchin

1891

A grieving woman sits handcuffed and alone on a third-class train bench, guarded by police — a sombre, socially charged early work.

Another Marguerite

1892

Oxen haul a fishing boat with a towering sail up out of the surf, straining figures and animals silhouetted against the bright sea.

Return from Fishing

1894

Below a boat's deck, two weathered fishermen tend an injured boy amid nets and tackle — a dim, compassionate scene of the sea's human cost.

And They Still Say Fish Is Expensive!

1894

Mother

1895

Valencian fishermen work aboard their boat under a warm sky, their sunlit figures and the vessel's timbers caught in loose, vigorous strokes.

Fishermen, Valencia

1895

Young women sleeping huddled under shawls on the benches of a dim third-class railway carriage, watched over by an older chaperone in black — a sombre social-realist scene of girls being trafficked.

The White Slave Trade

1895

In a vine-shaded Valencian courtyard a group of fisherfolk spread an enormous white sail across their laps and stitch it, dappled sunlight falling through the leaves.

Sewing the Sail

1896

Fishermen share a midday meal in the shade of their boat's great sail, warm light glowing through the canvas over the gathered crew.

Lunch on the Boat

1898

Naked, disabled children — several on crutches — wade into the Valencian sea watched over by a black-robed monk, frail bodies set against glittering water.

Sad Inheritance

1899

Sorolla's wife Clotilde stands full-length, poised and elegant in a shimmering grey gown against a dark, muted background.

Portrait of Clotilde in a Grey Dress

1900

A woman reclines nude on white draperies, her form modelled in warm flesh tones against cool sheets in a quiet, intimate study.

Female Nude

1902

Two women in white and a freshly bathed baby wrapped in a white towel shelter beneath a cream parasol in a beached wooden boat, warm afternoon light catching the soft folds of cloth.

After the Bath

1902

A team of oxen hauls a fishing boat through the surf under a great billowing sail, drivers wading alongside in the churning, sunlit shallows.

Beaching the Boat (Afternoon Light)

1903

Summer

1904

Sorolla's three children pose together in an affectionate family portrait, their faces and white clothes softly modelled in gentle light.

My Children

1904

A bare-chested boy in a broad straw sun-hat strides across the wet Valencian sand carrying a wicker basket brimming with silvery fish, small bathers splashing in the sunlit surf behind him.

Young Fisherman, Valencia

1904

$Bathers swim in the vivid, glassy blue-green water off the rocks at Jávea, sunlight fracturing across the restless, transparent surface.$

Swimmers, Jávea

1905

Sunlit rocks plunge into brilliant turquoise water at Jávea, a small white boat riding the swell below the cliffs.

Rocks at Jávea

1905

The Bath, Jávea

1905

Sorolla's daughter María stands backlit at the water's edge in Biarritz, her figure haloed in light as she lifts her skirts from the waves.

Backlit: María at Biarritz

1906

A woman in white with a wide summer hat sits on a windswept dune holding a small box camera, two children resting behind her above the glittering blue sea at Biarritz.

Snapshot, Biarritz

1906

A girl leaps mid-air over a skipping rope in the dappled gardens of La Granja de San Ildefonso, her shadow pooling beneath her as other girls turn the rope in the mottled sunlight.

The Skipping Rope

1907

Sorolla's daughter María stands among the fountains and clipped greenery of the royal gardens at La Granja, dappled in soft summer light.

María at La Granja

1907

A young girl stands surrounded by blooming roses, sunlight and shadow playing across the flowers and her pale summer dress.

Elena Among Roses

1907

Sorolla's daughter María stands at her easel painting outdoors, absorbed in her work amid bright, breezy coastal light.

María Painting at El Cabañal

1907

Children race barefoot along the surf's edge, bodies leaning into the run as sunlight and spray scatter across the wet, mirror-bright sand.

Running Along the Beach

1908

An elegant woman in a long white dress sits on the sunlit sand beneath a white parasol, the sea breaking behind her in clear coastal light.

On the Beach, Valencia

1908

Two elegant women in flowing white dresses and veils stroll along the shoreline, their gauzy fabrics and a parasol billowing in the sea breeze.

Walk on the Beach

1909

A tanned boy wades a white horse into the shallow sea, sunlight glancing off the animal's wet flank and the turquoise water swirling around them.

The Horse’s Bath

1909

Two women in flowing white dresses and gauzy veils walk the shoreline, their elegant figures leaning gracefully into the sea wind.

Strolling Along the Seashore

1909

Sorolla portrays himself in a dark jacket, gazing directly outward with a steady, searching expression against a shadowed ground.

Self-Portrait

1909

Two sisters in white dresses stand together, one taller than the other, softly lit against a muted, luminous background.

Two Sisters, Valencia

1909

Antonio García, the artist's father-in-law, sits on the sunlit beach in a white suit and hat, at ease against the bright sea.

Antonio García on the Beach

1909

Two girls in white shifts, seen from behind and holding hands, wade into shallow surf whose swirling blues, greens and violets shimmer with reflected light.

Children in the Sea

1909

Three naked boys lie belly-down in the shallows of a sunlit Valencian beach, their wet backs and the rippling turquoise water shot through with reflected light.

Boys on the Beach

1910

Fishing boats with tall masts rest hauled up on the Valencian sand, their weathered hulls and rigging warm against the bright shore.

Beached Boats

1910

Queen Victoria Eugenia

1910

An ornate tiled gallery and fountain in the gardens of Seville's Alcázar, its arches and greenery glowing in warm, filtered sunlight.

Corner of the Garden, Alcázar of Seville

1910

Basque fishermen gather around a rough table at Zarauz, one man slumped in drink, their weathered faces caught in warm light.

The Drunkard, Zarauz

1910

Sorolla's wife Clotilde sits poised on a sofa in an elegant gown, her relaxed pose and fabrics caught in soft interior light.

Clotilde Seated on a Sofa

1910

Sunlit whitewashed garden walls topped with terracotta tiles rise beside clipped hedges and a tall palm, their pale forms and cast shadows mirrored in a still Sevillian pool.

Jardín de las Flores. Alcázar de Sevilla

1910

The pale Gothic spires and pinnacled facade of Burgos Cathedral catch the sun above a huddle of ochre and terracotta rooftops under a soft grey-blue sky.

The Cathedral of Burgos

1910

Four women in white lie asleep on the grass in the afternoon heat, their relaxed, foreshortened bodies dappled with shade.

The Siesta

1911

Louis Comfort Tiffany

1911

A woman wraps a child in a white towel at the water's edge, a blue fishing boat drawn up on the sand behind them and a bather in the surf beyond.

After Bathing

1915

Three fisherwomen in white blouses and long skirts walk barefoot along the wet sand carrying baskets, the surf and distant bathers behind them in bright coastal light.

Fisherwomen from Valencia

1915

Young children rest on the wet Valencian sand at the water's edge, their bare limbs and the shallow foam lit by bright Mediterranean sun.

Children on the Beach

1916

A young woman wrapped in a shimmering pink robe stands after bathing, the rose fabric glowing against a cane screen and the bright sea beyond.

The Pink Robe

1916

A team of oxen drags a fishing boat across the wet Valencian sand, driver and animals glowing against the shimmering shore.

Oxen, Valencia Beach

1916

Figures stand on a breakwater watching the sea below a great green and ochre hillside on the northern coast at San Sebastián — a cooler, northern light than Sorolla's Valencian beaches.

The Coast at San Sebastián

1917

A crowd in coats and hats gathers on a breakwater to watch a grey, storm-driven sea break in white spray beneath a headland — a dramatic late coastal scene under a cool northern sky.

The Breakwater, San Sebastián

1918

The lush garden of Sorolla's Madrid home, with tiled fountains, potted flowers and clipped foliage glowing in dappled sunlight.

The Garden of Sorolla’s House

1920

The long reflecting pool of the Alhambra's Court of the Myrtles mirrors the arched northern portico and its honey-coloured stucco, flanked by dark clipped myrtle hedges under a warm, still light.

Patio de Comares, Alhambra

Hispanic Society of America · New York

The Vision of Spain

Between 1912 and 1919 Sorolla gave himself almost entirely to the Vision of Spain — fourteen monumental panels depicting the regions and peoples of Spain. A staggering undertaking that made him rich and, many feel, exhausted him. Shown here as the documented series it is, with the two panels in which the old spark still burns brightest — The Tuna Catch and The Palm Grove — leading the set.

The full story of the Vision of Spain →