Sorolla and America

Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (1863-1923) first achieved major international success with his painting ¡Otra Margarita! (Another Marguerite!) (1892), for which he received first prize at the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. This painting was also the first work by the Spanish artist to enter an American institution when it was donated to the Museum of Fine Arts (today the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum) at Washington University in St. Louis in 1894. Sorolla's fame in America grew; in 1909, more than 150,000 visitors attended an exhibition of Sorolla's art at The Hispanic Society of America in New York in 1909. Furthermore, the artist was invited to the White House to paint the portrait of President William Howard Taft. The landmark exhibition of 1909 was followed two years later by another major show of more than 150 of his paintings held at the Art Institute of Chicago and the St. Louis Art Museum. Sorolla and America explores the artist's relationship with early twentieth century America through the lens of those who commissioned him, those who collected his works, and those artists, such as John Singer Sargent and William Merritt Chase, with whom Sorolla closely associated. Particular attention is dedicated to the artist's association with The Hispanic Society of America and with key figures like Archer Milton Huntington and Thomas Fortune Ryan. AUTHOR: Blanca Pons-Sorolla is the great-granddaughter of artist Joaquin Sorolla and the author of Joaquin Sorolla (London, 2005) and world authority on Sorolla's works. SELLING POINTS: ?Published to accompany exhibitions starting in December 2013 at Meadows Museum, Texas (running until April 2014), travelling to The San Diego Museum of Art (30th May-26th August, 2014) and then on to Fundacion MAPFRE, Madrid, Spain (23rd September, 2014- 11th January, 2015 ?Includes essays by Blanca Pons-Sorolla, Mark Roglan, Mitch Codding and other nineteenth-century art experts ?Also includes key archival materials relating to Sorolla's critical reception in America 210 colour and 90 b/w illustrations