Sorolla: The Masterworks Hardcover – Illustrated, October 2, 2012

I first became aware of Sorolla on a trip to Barcelona, Spain. I was like “who is this guy?”. I saw some books on him in a bookstore there and liked his style do I was looking for a good book on him and his works. I looked at reviews and ordered this book. It’s s very nice coffee table art book. Very nice reproductions of his art and nice graphic design of the book. I enjoy flipping through it a lot and studying his composition.

Joaquin Sorolla was a genius painter who has been too much overlooked. He did a kind of realism on a par-- or better even-- than the canvases of the American J.S. Sargent and Anders Zorn of Sweden. Sorolla has a flawless gift for all the things I most value in fine painting: sincerity, perfect perspective, superb anatomy, great portrayal of motion, and a breathtakingly good colorist. Sorolla is very modern in that his paintings are emotional, and they suggest a story, but they are in no way "narrative": Sorolla keeps a cool observer's distance from his subject, with stunning, novel, asymmetrical Degas-like compositions, very new for that time. Sorolla interests me also because he was a Spaniard doing a kind of art that really wasn't in fashion at the time; while most European artists were delving into various cerebral "-isms", or adhering to the formal somber colors of the Academy style, Sorolla was following his own instincts... and the fullness of time show that he was marvelously correct in those instincts. He wasn't an Impressionist--- his canvases are way too fleshed out and explicit to be called that--- yet he borrowed the brilliant, fresh colors of the Impressionists, but plugged it into his own version of Realism. This book is an excellent, very high quality tome compiled by his granddaughter, Blanca Pons-Sorolla. If you are a serious student of art, you simply must get to know Sorolla, as he is just the quintessence of the best ideas of fine art. These pictures haven't aged a bit, and are as beautiful and inspiring as they day they were painted.

My painting teacher introduced me to Sorolla with this fabulous book. I had to purchase one to be able to study this masterful painter via a beautiful book. High quality paper means that the photos are crisp and accurately represent the painter’s skills and use of color. Of course, paper can never match seeing the original but this book and paper stock are a compliment to this brilliant painter. I am particularly interested in how he uses paint to represent fabrics and draping so beautifully.

This is a beautiful hard cover book full of art and stories. I am so happy to owe this gem.

This is a good art book to have if you are a fan of Sorolla. It's a study book with a good binding so it should last for a long time. The images are high quality with a good bit to look at. Great for fans of Sorolla and for artist wanting to study his work.

I bought this as a gift. It was disappointing to see poor quality of photographs of Sorolla's paintings. I should have known by the relatively reasonable price. On glossy paper with fabuouls photographs they would have to charge more.So for the price its a good collection of Sorolla's apintings

Sorolla bathed the world in sunshine and captured those he loved and his Spanish surroundings with great skill and verve. I love the pure colours and brio with which he painted. Somehow he captured that most difficult of subjects - the sea. This book is beautifully produced with excellent colour images of many of his works, especially (in my view) the important and iconic sea images of his family and friends and Spanish fishermen. The reproduction is clear and high res so it is possible to see every brushstroke. An excellent production with accompanying biographical text.

This is a beautiful book. The size, color, weight, and paper are 1st class.