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La Piccioletta Barca | On Joaquín Sorolla and Photography - by Nacho Oliden

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Last month, I received a gift from my friend Simón, who, knowing my predilection for Joaquín Sorolla, sent a postcard from the Thyssen Museum in Madrid, with the painting ‘Antonio García en la playa’ (1909). The postcard, as its name suggests, shows Antonio Garcia, Sorolla’s father in law, sitting at the beach—the scene viewed through a window. Later, I discovered a photograph (I do not know the photographer’s name) showing Sorolla painting the piece, and Antonio García sitting in front of him. But, to my surprise, there is no window or building through which he observes the model. Both are on the sand, in the middle of the beach. A more critical observation of the postcard reveals that Antonio Garcia’s foot is also incomplete, its tip being cut by the frame of the painting. Anyone who has seen paintings by Sorolla, or who is acquainted with his biography, knows that photography played an important role in his education and vision. Yet, it was by looking at his character’s foot in the

La Piccioletta Barca | On Joaquín Sorolla and Photography - by Ignacio Oliden BROWSE Columns • Seafarers • Visual Arts • Poetry • Interviews • Fiction • Paraphrasis Translation • Essays Home Archive About Masthead Submissions Contact © La Piccioletta Barca 2021 Website art by Georgina Castagneto ✕ Events Patreon ≈ Events Patreon ≈ On Joaquín Sorolla and Photography | Ignacio Oliden On Joaquín Sorolla and Photography Ignacio Oliden Back to Issue Back to Column Last month, I received a gift from my friend Simón, who, knowing my predilection for Joaquín Sorolla, sent a postcard from the Thyssen M

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