Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport inaugurates exhibition entitled 'Sorolla, Art of Light'

Sorolla lived in a period when science made significant advancements in its study of the physical properties of light and when, thanks to the spread of artificial light, everyday life took on new dimensions. As a painter, he developed an extreme awareness of both natural and artificial light in both interior and, above all, exterior scenes, becoming so proficient in the latter that he became known as "the painter of light".

The exhibition

The exhibition aims to bring visitors closer to a number of particularly interesting paintings in terms of the artist's use of light. Light became a major aspect of painting from the mid-19th Century onwards. Whereas light had merely served to illuminate objects until then, it could be said that, from then on, objects were used to support light and painting acquired a new sensitivity towards its effects and nuances.

54 works in which light is treated as the main subject have been included in the exhibition. All of them have been taken from collections owned by the museum except one, which comes from a private collection. It has been divided into five sections:

1. Towards the Light

2. Shadow and Reflection

3. Filtered Light

4. Glare

5. Art of Light

Each section analyses the various forms of lighting that Sorolla cultivated and in which he was not only capable of reproducing the various nuances of light - such as the intense light of a bright sun as it gleams off white surfaces, clear half-lights, the restless light that filters through vegetation or reed beds, backlighting or combinations of them all - but was also able to evoke in his paintings that sense of life that natural light conveys and the special emotion inspired within him by playing with light; his capacity to transfigure reality, transform it into a miracle, a stunning apparition of beauty.

The exhibition is complemented by a series of photographs in which Sorolla can be seen painting some of the works included in the exhibition and analysing how to organise his relationship with the subject, its position in relation to the light or the choice of composition.