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His uncle Pepe insisted that he be a locksmith, like him, but soon sensed the powerful artistic vein of little Quimet, better known as Joaquín Sorolla, whom he welcomed when he was only two years old when his parents died of a cholera epidemic in Valencia, his hometown. The future master of light then went to live on Juan de Austria Street, a walk from Mantas, where a ceramic plaque recalls that at number 8 the painter came into the world. He would do it in the middle of the old town, surrounded by shops of humble people, including his parents, who sold that textile product, as well as socks, shirts or whatever was needed. Over the years, Sorolla came one day and took a tile from his first home.

It is the starting point of the routes that trace the main enclaves of the artist's life in his city. More now, that the centenary of his death is celebrated (10/08/1923), so that the acts, exhibitions and tributes for the Sorolla Year follow one another for half the planet. From Madrid to Barcelona, Paris or New York, always returning to his Valencia, to that light and sea that so inspired one of the most prolific Spanish authors (and recognized in life) of all time: he left more than 2,300 cataloged works. "Sorolla is, without a doubt, the main ambassador of the city," says Emiliano García, Councilor for Tourism, while encouraging to know the itineraries promoted by the City Council. Therefore, he adds, the anniversary is an "opportunity to walk the streets of Valencia through the key points of its early years, as well as to know heritage buildings and historic neighborhoods."

Plaque in the building where the painter was born.

Some of these corners are the Bank of Valencia (in the current street of the Painter Sorolla), the church of Santa Catalina, where he was baptized, or the School of Artisans of Valencia of Avellanas Street, where he entered with 13 years. Of course, at night, since during the day he had to deal with keys and padlocks in his uncle's locksmith. At school he would become friends with the artistic saga of the Benlliure and the son of Antonio García Peris, renowned photographer of the time, whom he began to help in his studio in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, 5.

CLOTA, MINISTER OF FINANCE

Not only would she learn lighting techniques from him, but she would marry her daughter Clotilde in the church of San Martín. Clota was the love of his life, but also his "Minister of Finance", as he affectionately called her, because he took care of everything: accounts, children, house, contracts, agenda ... He immortalized it in 70 pieces (with black suit, with cat and dog, dressed in white, on the beach ...) and 2,000 letters were written in which he confessed things like this: "My life today is monotonous, but what to do to it, I always tell you the same thing, paint and love you, that's all" or "God really united us, for I dream nothing but to be with you and for you."

Bank of Valencia in Pintor Sorolla street.

After training at the Academy of Fine Arts (now Centro del Carmen), he soon began to present his works to competitions... Without success, since they did not fit the historical and tragic profile of that time, so he changed his strategy. "Here, to make yourself known and win medals you have to make dead," he said. And he was right. In 1884, he achieved one at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts with his Defense of the artillery park of Monteleón, set in the War of Independence and melodramatic where there are.

The same backdrop he used in El grito del palleter, which earned him a coveted scholarship from the Diputación to study the Erasmus of yesteryear in Rome. "His trip was a before and after, since he came into contact with classical art and the great masters," says María Hernández, a guide specialized in Sorolla, in front of the stairs of the Lonja de la Seda in which the painter placed the painting. Just in front is the Central Market, a modernist jewel and epicenter of his childhood and youth.

Space dedicated to Sorolla in the Museum of Fine Arts.

He was about to lose the subsidy, since, to maintain it, he had to periodically deliver several works, "and he could not think of anything else but to send anti-academic nudes, which he did not like at all" adds Hernández. To please his patrons, Sorolla signed Father Jofré defending a madman (on deposit in the Palace of the Generalitat), much more conventional, locating the action in the Portal de la Valldigna in the Carmen neighborhood. Both this canvas and that of the aforementioned palleter can be seen in the exhibition Sorolla a Roma of the Palacio de la Scala, which reviews that stage in 33 pieces.

Exhibition of the Museum of Fine Arts.

The exhibition Sorolla deals with the first years before Italy. Origins of the Museum of Fine Arts, which gathers, from yesterday until June 11, 70 paintings, watercolors, drawings, photographs and documents such as Portrait of man, Knight with band, The slave and the dove and Nun in prayer. Organized next to the Sorolla Museum in Madrid (where it has already been enjoyed), the curator of this, Luis Alberto Pérez Velarde, speaks of "a Sorolla before Sorolla", of that careful student of drawing, landscape and anatomy; incipient portraitist and even daring imitator of Velázquez after his meetings with the author of Las Meninas in El Prado.

BATHING SCENES

The Museum of Fine Arts of the city of Turia will also present, from June 29 to October 1, 46 saplings from the Masaveu Collection. It will be time to contemplate Playa de Valencia, Running along the beach and so many other scenes of bathing and sea work represented between 1887 and 1917, three years before the end of his career because of a stroke suffered, precisely, while painting. Not surprisingly, the Masaveu Collection is the third dedicated to Sorolla internationally, only surpassed by his Madrid museum and the Hispanic Society of America in New York. The latter launched him to world stardom after the commission of Vision of Spain, the famous set of 14 canvases of 3.5 meters high and 60 meters long made by the artist after touring the entire country between 1912 and 1919.

'I am the bread of life', at the Telecommunications Palace.

We follow the route in the beautiful Palacio de las Comunicaciones (former Post Office building), which houses Del foscor a la llum. Cinc segles d'art (From darkness to light: five centuries of art), with 70 pieces from the collection of the Lladró family of Zurbarán, Berruguete, José de Rivera or, of course, Sorolla, highlighting Yo soy el pan de la vida, the impressive oil painting of almost 25 square meters that welcomes the visitor, and Labradora Valenciana, A hymn to his countrywomen.

They, in feminine, are also the common thread of Las mujeres de Sorolla, which can be toured until April 26 at the sports-cultural center La Petxina. In addition, in autumn La Valencia painted in the times of Sorolla will land in the house-museum of the Benlliure (Blanquerías, 23), where paintings by our protagonist such as Portrait of Peppino, The Blessed of the Brotherhood or Study of male head are usually exhibited.

Monument 'Valencia a Sorolla'.

The next stop is gastronomic, as Sorolla can also be eaten. Yes, in the restaurant Vertical (Luis García Berlanga, 19), where chef Jorge de Andrés offers the Homenaje al Maestro menu. Composed of 14 dishes (115 euros without pairing and 150, with it) inspired by works such as El concejo del roncal, La fiesta del pan or Las grupas, it connects the palate with the different Spanish regions that the artist poured into his canvases during his career.

Dish from the menu 'Homage to the Master'.

The time has come to jump into the sea, into that Mediterranean where Don Joaquín was happy. There is the monument Valencia to Sorolla and there, in the Cabañal and the Malvarrosa, he located most of his famous beach landscapes such as Sewing the sail, The return of fishing, Sad heritage or Walk by the sea. Many were created in the house of his friend Vicente Blasco Ibáñez or in dels Bous (Pescadores, 39). Even the Sorolla brasserie at the Las Arenas hotel, a classic of the homonymous beach, sports a portrait of him, La señora. The god of light had to die, however, far from that Valencian sea, in the mountains of Madrid, leaving for the memory the best picture of his land, in which he rests.

Typical houses of the Cabañal neighborhood.

PRACTICAL GUIDE

HOW TO GET THERE. The AVE arrives in Valencia from all over Spain.

WHERE TO SLEEP. AC Hotel Valencia. Elegant, functional and close to the Malvarrosa, it is a good base of operations to tour the city. From 160 euros.

WHERE TO EAT. Vertical. Its menu 'Homage to the Master' pays tribute to the painter. Brasserie Sorolla. The restaurant of the hotel in Las Arenas sports a painting of his, 'La señora'. Alenar Winery. Ideal to try the 'esmorzaret', classic breakfast as Valencian as the artist.

LEARN MORE. On the Valencia Tourism website: www.visitvalencia.com

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