Oct 31st – Another Museo

 Yesterday due to rain we limited our wandering to the library and a little shopping to get non-food type things that we need to have like toothpaste, soap, etc.  But today we started with our food shopping and loaded up some due to tomorrow being a national holiday, All Saints day (Todos Santos) which is when the children here trick or treat.  However in Madrid due to the preponderance of multi-dwelling apartment/condos they really don’t go out, there are more parties at homes.  Anyway after shopping we decided to go to another of our museums, this time the Museo Joaquin Sorolla.  So we jumped on the metro and went to the stop a couple of blocks from the museum.  Upon arrival you go through a very nice gate into a spectacular little courtyard garden created by Sorolla in the late 1890’s, it has several fountains surrounded by plants, trees, and sculptures.  Sorolla collected antique decorative tiles and pottery dating from the 1500’s up to the 1800’s and when he helped design his town house/studio the gardens were extensively decorated with the glazed tiles. Anyway, after getting tickets with our passes we went into the townhouse and I’ve got to say without overdoing it that it far exceeded my expectations, and they were high.   I’d seen some photos of Sorolla’s paintings but nothing really prepared me for the full impact of his work.  In his time he was called the ‘painter of light’ likely the first; even though in the last few decades Kinkaid styled himself the same. 

 Going on, he is noted for his portraits, seascapes, and garden scenes, which are positively luminous in their treatment of the effects of light on his subjects.   He has a light palette that does not shy from using any color on the wheel, moderated to capture the specific light effect that he wanted.  I tried to take a couple pictures but the light in the house is too low and they don’t allow flash photos.   After the Reina Sofia, I’m doubly careful to avoid flashes.