Sorolla Centennial Exhibitions 2023 in Madrid

To mark the centennial of the death of the Valencian painter Joaquín Sorolla, Madrid offers you several exhibitions to honor the artist.

A tour that, if you see it as a whole, will allow you to discover the Sorolla which he was before becoming one of our great artists.

From first sketches, hyperrealism, the portrait and all the details of his extensive creations, even the new technologies, with the new immersive experiences that will allow us to better understand his work.

Sorolla Centennial Exhibitions in Madrid

The year has started with three exhibitions that mark this anniversary.

The first one is “Sorolla Origins” who has been in Sorolla Museum until March 19, to now have the leading role in the Museum of Fine Arts of Valencia.

This is an exhibition about the Sorolla's early years as an artist, framed between the years 1878 and 1884, which shows his less known period and is surprising for the intimacy of the exhibition and for the numerous personal memories and biographical details that you can see in it.

On the other hand, until June 30 you can see the exhibition “Sorolla through the light” in the Madrid's Royal Palace.

This is one of the immersive experiences that are now so fashionable that they bring the figure of the Valencian artist closer to the general public.

The Genoa Halls of the Royal Palace offer a series of original paintings by Sorolla rarely exhibited or belonging to private collections.

But along with them, they present digital recreations that allow us to see the enlarged details of his paintings, enhancing sensory experiences through light, color and movement.

A trip back in time to discover the time of Sorolla in virtual reality of the highest quality.

“Portraits of Sorolla” exhibition at the Prado Museum

The third exhibition is “Portraits of Sorolla”, which you can visit at Museo del Prado until June 18, with portraits being the theme on which the second exhibition of the Sorolla Centennial.

Room 60 of the Villanueva Building of the Museo del Prado dresses up to present us this select sample of some of the best portraits of Sorolla from 1863 to 1923.

Of the 23 paintings that this gallery houses, 18 are these portraits strategically placed to make us understand this part of his career.

In the early years of the 20th century, Sorolla He became one of the most important portrait painters of the time worldwide.

A time of youth in which he worked with the photographer Antonio García, which gave him the opportunity to immortalize prominent figures of culture and society with his brush.

Among them, the portrait of the Alicante historian and jurist stands out. Rafael Altamira placeholder image which was sold by the family to the museum in 1999 and is now on display for the first time.

Likewise, the portraits of Jacinto Felipe Picón y Pardiñas, or your friend's son Aureliano de Beruete.

Also doctors like Francisco Rodríguez de Sandoval y Joaquin Decref, or painters, like Martin Rico, Aureliano de Beruete, Juan Espina y Antonio Gomar.

As soon as we enter the Prado room intended for these exhibitions, we are struck by a large portrait of Maria de Figueroa dressed as a menina from 1901, an oil painting on canvas of the girl daughter of Rodrigo de Figueroa, Marquis of Gauna.

She appears dressed as Infanta Doña Margaret of Austria, a painting with which the painter pays tribute to another genius of painting, Velazquez.

Next to him are the portraits of the wife and sister of his friend and also a painter. Aureliano Beruete, to whom he was very close.

Among the portraits also that of Dr. Francisco Rodríguez de Sandoval who was part of the circle of friends of Sorolla and became the family doctor starting in 1919.

This work belongs to one of the painter's best moments as a portrait painter and demonstrates his knowledge of Velázquez in the ease of the brushstroke, the management of space and the variations around the color gray.

The nephew of Sorolla, Jaime García Banús, He appears portrayed with the spontaneity of the painter's childhood works, for which he often used members of his family.

The white brushstrokes give great luminosity to the painting, in which the shine of the blue ball in his hands is perfectly achieved.

If you change rooms, at 60A we find more of Sorolla's treasures, the portrait of Aureliano de Beruete Morette, son of the landscaper Aureliano de Beruete and Maria Teresa Moreno.

He was the first art historian to direct the Museo del Prado between 1918 and 1922.

Next to him stand two of his most outstanding works: the canvas Francisco Giner de los Rios, from 1915, and that of Manuel Bartolomé Cossío, 1908; The latter is the one that appears in the advertising chosen for this exhibition and that we could see in the exhibition "Sorolla in black" in the Sorolla Museum.

It is an oil on canvas work that evokes the Greco including a small square image, like a small window, of the famous painting of the “Knight of the hand on the chest".

Another of the capital portraits is that of the famous actress Mrs. María Guerrero, who is portrayed as the protagonist of La dama boba de Lope de Vega.

Don't forget to complete the visit on Sorolla In room 62, here you will find more of the painter's jewels, among which the portrait of his friend stands out. Aureliano Beruete.

“Portraits of Sorolla” exhibition hours at the Prado Museum

The Visiting hours of the exhibition “Portraits of Sorolla” what you can see in the Museo del Prado They are, Monday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 20 p.m., and Sundays and holidays, from 10 a.m. to 19 p.m.

The Ticket prices for the exhibition “Portraits of Sorolla” The general price is 15 euros, and with admission to this temporary exhibition you can also visit the permanent collection.