II. Around 1895: the first international successes
Return from Fishing was Sorolla’s first
major international success. Shown at the
1895 Paris Salon, it marked his debut on
the European stage and consolidated his
reputation in Spain. Sorolla’s stay in
the French capital also infl uenced his
work in canvases such as After the
Bath, which shows a shift in taste
towards the academic style that dominated
the Parisian market. Sewing the Sail
confirmed his previous success. The
pictorial representation of the effects
of sunlight that characterize these two
major works increasingly drew the
artist’s attention, becoming the true
hallmark of his art. This quest to
portray sunlight, using the sails of fi
shing boats as his best resource, led to
Eating on the Boat, a painting
in which the sail also enabled the artist
to enclose the space where the action
unfolds.
These same years saw the rise in
Sorolla’s international reputation echoed
by a greater interest on the part of
private clients to buy his work. To meet
this demand, he increasingly painted
popular genre subjects and began a
successful career as a portrait painter.
-
Joaquín Sorolla, Return from Fishing, Oil on canvas, 265 x 325 cm. 1894. Paris, Musée d’Orsay
