The 2 Artists: Singer-Sargent vs. Sorolla

 Someone introduced me to the artist, Joaquin Sorolla's (1863-1923) paintings. My first hit was how much they reminded me of the John Singer Sargent's (1856-1925) retrospective I'd seen in Seattle. As you can tell from the dates, they were contemporaries. I wondered if they knew each other.  (Sorolla self-portrait on left)

A Google search of  "Singer-Sargent vs Sorolla" showed they not only knew each other, but had much in common, including a friendly competition. Both had the discipline to paint everyday. Many of their subjects were the same - portraits, outdoors, and scene of activities. An area where Sorolla differed was the sea as his subject.

He painted it often. He was also known as the "Master of Light."

The socio-economic worlds they came from were quite different. Singer-Sargent was American, lived in Europe and never knew poverty or want.  He moved in the best circles buoyed by his outstanding ability as a portraitist. Sorolla's parents died of cholera when he was 9 years old. His experiences left him with an interest in painting scenes of average people in their work-a-day world or celebrating at a festive time. 

Perhaps the societal differences explain why Singer-Sargent is why he's better known; whereas Sorolla is little known outside of Spain.  However in Spain, there's the Sorolla Museum, the Spanish National Dance Company created a ballet about him and there's even a railway station named after him.

Beyond the comparison, here is a sampling of his works. He often worked very large as is shown by the last image...