Author: Carlos Reyero.
Yesterday Monday, the book Sorolla o la pintura como felicidad, by Carlos Reyero, was presented at the Museo Sorolla in Madrid. Joaquín Sorolla wrote: “I wish happiness for everyone”, but what did he do to achieve it? Can we learn to be happy through art? Why do we enjoy contemplating it?
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida is one of the great masters of Spanish painting of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the most internationally renowned Spanish painter of his time and one of the leading figures in the history of Spanish art as a whole. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his death and exhibitions, conferences and cultural events on his person and art will be held all over Spain, starting with the exhibition Sorolla a través de la luz (Sorolla through light), which is on at the Palacio Real in Madrid until 30 June.
Articulated through “ten lessons in happiness”, which offer as many cross-cutting points of view on Sorolla’s life and work, this book questions the true extent of his success and the pleasant well-being reflected in his painting. Contemporary critics agreed that joie de vivre overflowed in his paintings, which were interpreted as if they were natural visions created without effort. It is well known, however, that life is not always a party, so such happiness must conceal some sort of fiction. Perhaps one of its greatest achievements has been to convince us of its authenticity. The story has been conceived as a relaxed and delicately ironic reflection on the clichés that have enveloped Sorolla in happiness, to the point of denying any shadow. Light lifts the spirits. There is no more efficient resource than illuminating everything to forget that there is nothing hidden to worry about. Sorolla is remembered as an achiever who painted happy people in wonderful places. Art is an extraordinary illusion. Let us not pretend that it is also real. In life you can’t have everything.
Pages: 328
Publisher: CÁTEDRA
Binding: Tapa blanda
ISBN: 9788437645506
RPP: 16,10 euros
