Sorolla and America
The story of Sorolla and America begins in 1893, with Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida's prize-winning submission to the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. On the heels of this success, and a triumph at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1900, Sorolla would be invited by the philanthropist and collector Archer Milton Huntington to show his work at the Hispanic Society in New York. This exhibition, which went on to tour the United States, would secure Sorolla a host of prestigious commissions, including an invitation to the White House to paint the official portrait of President Taft—a work which is included in the exhibition.
Sorolla’s reputation in this country would also come to rest on his picturesque paintings of Spanish subjects, including the beaches of his native Valencia. It was to produce such pleasing views that Huntington commissioned Sorolla to paint a series of murals, entitled the Visions of Spain, for the library of the Hispanic Society. This task, which would occupy the artist for years to come, may be counted his most significant American commission, but the fame of the Visions of Spain has also served to overshadow other facets of Sorolla’s success in America. This exhibition, organized by Blanca Pons-Sorolla, the artist’s great-granddaughter, brings together masterpieces that will be presented to audiences for the first time in America and Madrid.