Wednesday 19 December 2007

Another Life Model

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida - Boy with Ball (detail)Back in the days of innocence, before the public became aware that children - even horrid boys - could be objects of lust, it seemed proper and probably cheaper to offer a street urchin a few coppers to pose as a life model, rather than employing a lusty wench, who might well distract the would-be artists from their work. "Nice boobs, Michelangelo, but what about the rest of the model?" This life study, Boy With Ball (detail), by Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, proves what a superb artist he might have become had he not been seduced by Impressionism. This anonymous sandy cherub remains arguably his finest work of art.

2 Comments:

At 15/7/11, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorolla WAS a great artist, and even better as he matured. This is an example of his work as a student, but his later works are masterful.

 
At 15/7/11, Blogger Unknown said...

I agree he was a great artist. I just wonder what he night have achieved if he had not been seduced by Impressionism. Maybe we can agree he was the greatest impressionist. He caught the moment, the swirl of wave on sand, the gleam of sunshine on wet bodies. Most other impressionists didn't catch the moment, which is what they claimed to be doing. They produced fuzzy preliminary painted sketches and sold them as finished works of art.

Have you seen Sorolla's painting of a priest helping children crippled with polio into the sea? That is heart-wrenching. I think I've posted it on my blog.

 

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