A long-lost masterpiece by the Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla recently reappeared after being presumed missing for more than a century. Paris Boulevard emerged from a private collection for its first public exhibition since the artist debuted it in 1890. At that time, “its singular nature immediately set it apart from the Spanish painting of the period,” explained Madrid’s Royal Collections Gallery.
Paris Boulevard by Joaquín Sorolla
Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923), known as the Spanish painter of the sea, visited Paris between 1889 and 1890. While there, the young artist painted Paris Boulevard—a bustling evening cityscape that departs from his characteristic Mediterranean beach scenes. Sorolla also added a subtle self-portrait to the painting, depicting himself seated at a table with a cigar in hand. Upon returning to Spain, Sorolla successfully showcased Paris Boulevard at the 1890 National Exhibition.
“The panoramic composition of the work—which is very photographic and which doesn’t worry about the figures which are cut off at each end—really grabs your attention and gives it a freshness that’s a taste of what Sorolla would go on to do more emphatically,” said Blanca Pons-Sorolla, curator and great-granddaughter of the artist. “The drawing is very accurate, the brush strokes restrained, and the details have a real virtuosity that defines the more careful and defined painting of his early works.”
New Madrid Exhibition Features Long-Lost Painting
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterShortly after the National Exhibition, Joaquín Sorolla sold Paris Boulevard to a private collector, after which the painting virtually vanished. “All the experts thought it had disappeared, but a feat of investigation turned up some most unexpected results,” Ana de la Cueva, president of Patrimonio Nacional (Spain’s national heritage institution), told Antena 3 TV. “It was still in the hands of the family who bought it back then, and they have allowed us to exhibit it.”
Paris Boulevard joins 76 other paintings by Joaquín Sorolla in a new exhibition at the Royal Collections Gallery in Madrid. Sorolla, One Hundred Years of Modernity tracks the fascinating creative trajectory of the Spanish artist and runs through February 16, 2025.
Who Was Joaquín Sorolla?
While Joaquín Sorolla is lesser-known by name today, he was very popular during his lifetime, especially in his home country of Spain. Sorolla innovated a personalized variant of Impressionism at the turn of the century. He was repeatedly drawn to explore the flickering effects of Spain’s bright sunlight on the surface of seawater, painting in the open air on the coast of Valencia, where he was born. Joaquín Sorolla’s influence on other Spanish painters was so profound that his followers were described as “sorollista.” After Sorolla died in 1923, his widow, Clotilde García del Castillo, gifted much of his work to the Spanish public. These paintings helped form the collection of the Museo Sorolla, which opened in the artist’s Madrid home in 1932.
