Joaquín SorollaSpanish, 1863–1923Clotilde de espaldas
Can I see it?
Unknown
Where is “Clotilde de espaldas” now? Collection: Sorolla Museum, Madrid. Unknown.
Madrid, Spain
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Museum text in Spanish
Dibujo que presenta a Clotilde García del Castillo en el anverso, sentada de espaldas, con un leve giro hacia la izquierda mostrando ligeramente el perfil del rostro, en cuyo sombreado insiste el carboncillo. Se recoge el cabello en moño bajo y viste un vestido de mangas hinchadas, cintura ceñida y parte inferior de amplio vuelo que forma un juego de pliegues angulosos sobre la pierna y el saliente en el que se sienta la figura. En el reverso, aparecen rasguños que insinúan un busto. El dibujo puede datarse en una etapa temprana, entre los años 1885 y 1904.
Sorolla Museum
Details
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Sorolla Museum
- Image: Sorolla Museum — In Copyright
In the life of Joaquín Sorolla
The whole life1885
A four-year grant to study in Rome
Having completed his military service, the twenty-two-year-old Sorolla received a grant from the Spanish Academy in Rome for four years of study in Italy. In Rome he was welcomed by the academy’s director, Francisco Pradilla, in whose example the young painter found stability.
1885
Paris: his first encounter with modern painting
A long stay in Paris gave him his first exposure to modern painting; he was especially struck by exhibitions of Jules Bastien-Lepage and Adolph von Menzel. Back in Rome he studied with José Benlliure, Emilio Sala and José Villegas Cordero.
1888
Returns to Valencia to marry Clotilde
Sorolla returned to Valencia to marry Clotilde García del Castillo; by 1895 they had three children — María, Joaquín and Elena.
1897
“A Research”: the Prize of Honour in Madrid
Two paintings linking art and science, “Portrait of Dr. Simarro at the Microscope” and “A Research”, won Sorolla the Prize of Honour at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. He showed his friend Simarro in the laboratory, catching the contrast between the reddish-yellow light of a gas burner and the weak mauvish light from the window.
1900
Grand Prix at the Paris Universal Exposition
“Sad Inheritance”, a huge canvas of crippled children bathing in the sea at Valencia under a monk’s supervision, brought Sorolla his greatest official recognition, the Grand Prix and a medal of honour, and his exhibit as a whole earned him nomination as a Knight of the Legion of Honour. After this picture he never returned to so overtly social a theme.
1906
Galerie Georges Petit: nearly 500 works
A one-man show at the Galeries Georges Petit in Paris — figures, landscapes, portraits, early works and recent sun-drenched beaches — eclipsed all his earlier successes. His productivity amazed critics, the show was a financial triumph, and it brought him the rank of Officer of the Legion of Honour.






