In January 2022, a newspaper reported on discussions among the Ministry of Culture, the Generalitat, and Sorolla family about plans for a major celebration. The announcement for the 2023 Year of Sorolla followed, and after a sequence of smaller activities organized by elevator-EMV on behalf of the Prensa Ibérica group, a full slate of centennial events was unveiled. The Madrid Sorolla Museum hosted most public activities, with a founding act by the Year Commission and thirty exhibitions scheduled across Spain, the United States, Denmark, Cuba, and Italy. The event drew participation from the Culture Minister, Miquel Iceta, and the Generalitat Valenciana’s Minister of Culture, among others.
Valencia handed over to the painter
Valencia, the birthplace of the painter, prepared to host numerous exhibitions in diverse venues. Following the showcases at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Sorolla Museum’s origins project, as well as a display from the Masaveu Collection previewed by the press, the Valencia City Council planned to honor Sorolla in Rome. A collaboration with local institutions highlighted Sorolla’s ties to Valencia, including the Batlia Palace and the Benlliure House Museum. The Bancaja Foundation planned an exhibition titled Sorolla en negro, while the City Museum and other institutions focused on Sorolla’s connections with the city, as supported by the Ministry of Culture.
From the land of Sorolla
Heritage coordinators at the Sorolla Museum and the Sorolla Museum Foundation led the Year of Sorolla programming. Two recent exhibitions, Sorolla. Origins and Sorolla is dead! Long live Sorolla!, set the stage. In April, Joaquin Sorolla in front of the sea, by Manuel Vicente, will present a literary interpretation pairing Sorolla’s paintings with Vicente’s writings. The description frames Sorolla as a figure whose aesthetic and moral approach to the sea inspires a broader cultural narrative.
The Sorolla Museum collections will travel beyond Madrid to celebrate the landscapes that inspired the painter. The project Sorolla. Travel to paint has six approved locations: San Sebastián, Toledo, Valladolid, Seville, A Coruña, and Mallorca. Beginning February 17, Madrid will host Sorolla with Light at the Royal Palace, a show pairing original works with immersive virtual reality rooms, with a later tour to Valencia in the second half of the year.
Other institutions contributing to the centennial program include the Prado Museum, Alicante’s Fine Arts Museum, Palau Martorell in Barcelona, the Fundación Caja Circulo in Burgos, and the Asturias Fine Arts Museum.
Most international painter
Sorolla stands as Valencia’s most international artist. His reach crosses borders to Copenhagen’s Glyptoteca in Denmark, the Spanish Royal Academy in Rome, the National Museum of Fine Arts in Cuba, the Meadows Museum in Dallas, Texas, and collaborations with the Hispanic Society, the National Art Club of New York. The program includes more than a dozen publications, from a catalog raisonné to unpublished correspondence with his wife, and a 1923 manuscript by critic José Manau, among other scholarly works. Scientific bodies also organize conferences and presentations as part of the centennial exploration.