Dibujo

1879

Meets Clotilde García del Castillo

While working in her father’s studio, Sorolla first met Clotilde García del Castillo, his future wife.

c. 1881

Madrid: studying the old masters in the Prado

At eighteen Sorolla travelled to Madrid and studied the master paintings in the Museo del Prado with great energy.

1885

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.

1890

Moves to Madrid: large canvases for the salons

The family moved to Madrid. For the next decade Sorolla concentrated on large canvases of orientalist, mythological, historical and social subjects for salons and international exhibitions in Madrid, Paris, Venice, Munich, Berlin and Chicago.