Mubag hosts a private gathering around Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923) and the people who shaped his world—teachers, mentors, peers, and students. The exhibition offers a comprehensive view of the Valencian painter through the perspectives of those who influenced him, those he influenced, and those who honor his legacy.
The Alicante museum curates this presentation with a focus on Valencian painting from Sorolla’s era. It brings together dialogues and contrasts across 115 works, largely drawn from the Valencia Museum of Fine Arts and other public collections, plus several private holdings.
In the Year of Sorolla in the Valencian Community, commemorating his death centenary, the display features 18 works by the artist, including pieces never shown before. The ensemble is complemented by other images assembled for the occasion. Francisco Javier Perez Rojas, the curator, guides visitors through Alicante until 25 June.
“This is a complex exhibition,” Perez Rojas noted at the opening. “We pursued a narrative sequence that moves from painting history and academic subjects to depictions of identity, regional life, working scenes, and portraits, tracing a path that ends in landscape—both urban and rural.”
The centerpiece includes Valencia period pieces, with a landmark painting from 1894 that toured the United States in the 1970s and has not been publicly shown since 1984, when it was auctioned by Sotheby’s and acquired by a private collector. The work marks Sorolla’s shift toward a more naturalistic vision and reflects the modernist influence seen in Entre naranjos, a related painting located in Havana.
Several works are being shown in Spain for the first time, including Portrait of Doña Pilar Sainz de Vicuña y Arbide, Duchess of Montesión, along with oil boats and preliminary sketches. The exhibition also features Nude Male Academy in Profile and other portraits connected to Joaquín Agrasot, boats on the shore tied to Murillo Ramos, and the Tailors Guild Regiment linked to Bernardo Ferrándiz. A vision of the Colosseum echoes in Jose Benlliure’s work, and Encarnita’s portrait relates to Emilio Varela. The show closes with Maria Sorolla, the Valencian painter’s daughter, and a painting that captures the father-daughter bond in Seville’s Alcázar Garden.
The works of Sorolla and his daughter María close the Mubag exhibition. Hector Fuentes
The four-part narrative
The curatorial narrative unfolds in four episodes: the rebirth of the Valencian school, the Valencia-Rome connection, expressions of traditional and rural life, and the human kaleidoscope of portraiture, rural and urban scenes. The display highlights works by Sorolla’s influencers—Emilio Sala, Munoz Degrain, Ignacio Pinazo, and Jose Benlliure—and contemporaries such as José Garnelo, Cecilio Pla, Fernando Cabrera, and José Navarro. Later generations, including José Pinazo, Manuel Benedito, and Emilio Varela, also appear in the dialogue.
“The conversations between these works span a chronological arc—from early paintings to landscapes in the final phase,” explained the commissioner. The result is not merely a survey but a conversation that reveals the painter’s evolution and the social world that shaped his practice.
Carlos Mazon, president of the Provincial Assembly, praised the exhibition’s scale and its diagonal flow, noting that Sorolla’s legacy remains vibrant in Mubag. He underscored the Year of Sorolla as a national cultural project that originates in Alicante and invites visitors to a city of light housed in a museum that has become a reference for culture and tourism.
Mubag’s role in a European digitization effort
The regional cultural secretary highlighted the museum’s growth path, pointing to the digitization project that connects Mubag with broader European initiatives. Julia Parra described a journey that has drawn roughly 25,000 visitors in the previous year, a figure that mirrors a recovery from the pandemic era. The initiative showcases the Diputación’s commitment to presenting high-quality exhibitions, including this study of a pivotal Valencian and Spanish painter.
Ximo López, the regional secretary for culture, announced that a formal regional council meeting would soon declare 2023 the Year of Sorolla. He emphasized ongoing collaboration among institutions to deliver a refined cultural offering to the public.
Cooperation among museums
Half of the works come from the Valencia Museum of Fine Arts, joined by Mubag’s leadership and team. Pablo García Tornel, Mubag’s director, stressed that collaboration should be evaluated beyond financial terms and with an emphasis on shared cultural value. The Provincial Assembly of Alicante initiated the Year of Sorolla in the Valencian Community, underscoring a broader regional partnership.
García Tornel encouraged a framework of inter-institutional cooperation, noting that proximity should be leveraged to advance significant cultural projects. The aim is to show that there is no real border between Valencia and Alicante, and that joint efforts can elevate the cultural landscape across the region.