Sorolla Museum, Madrid

One of the advantages of writing in a newspaper is that people often send you stuff.

One such example was when a publisher sent me a copy of the novel Tres Historias del Pintor de la Luz by Javier Alande.

I became so engrossed by the story of the Valencian painter Sorolla that I decided to take advantage of the Christmas holiday and visit the Sorolla Museum in Madrid.

We also visited El Prado, Reina Sofia and a Brueghel exhibition but the Sorolla was definitely my favourite.

This was partly due to the help and invaluable information provided enthusiastically by museum employee Covadonga Pitarch, who showed us around and was an enviable source of knowledge about Sorolla.

The museum was his home, designed in cooperation with the Valencian architect José María Repolles, who had also designed the house of contemporary Valencian artist Mariano Benlliure.

It was the result of the success during the last epoch of his life, after his time in Valencia, Italy, France and the USA, when his work had become popular and his services in demand from many people, including the Spanish king.

It was the third home he lived in in Madrid, but the only one he owned.

The garden reflects Sorolla’s Mediterranean roots, as does the Arab style patio.

The building is divided into two zones; one for working and one for living with his wife and three children.

The three ‘working’ rooms show examples of his work, beginning with a self portrait and paintings of his family.

The last room was where he painted and is full of his work and of the items that surrounded him and no doubt inspired him as he worked.

The museum receives over 250,000 visitors a year and belongs to the state, donated in 1929 on the death of Sorolla’s wife, Clotilde. He lived there from 1911 until his death in 1923.

His devotion to his family is patent in the work and includes a painting of his wife and daughter on the Malvarrosa beach, mentioned in Javier’s novel, and providing the cover.

We sent him a selfie and he replied that we should check out Sorolla’s Crucifixion of Christ, which had an interesting story.

Unable to find it, we asked a lady, who knew, possibly because she was Sorolla’s great grand-daughter.

It turned out that Sorolla destroyed the original painting when it failed to win a competition. Fortunately his work would later triumph, and can now be seen in the nearby El Prado, in Valencia of course, and in New York’s Hispanic Society, where his Visions of Spain are hung.

The residential part of the museum contains Sorolla’s original furniture and all kinds of objects which lend an insight into the life of this ‘master of light’.