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Valencian Tradition Book

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The Valencian Tradition

Joaquín Sorolla, Giner Bueno, & Eustaquio Segrelles

Atlanta, GA 5 January 2016- Inspired by the recent retrospective of Joaquin Sorolla’s work at the Meadows Museum in Dallas, Rhonda DiMatteo of  DE Fine Art examines the influential artist’s enduring legacy on two contemporary Spanish painters in the upcoming book, The Valencian Tradition: Joaquín Sorolla, Giner Bueno, & Eustaquio Segrelles.  

Sorolla, a turn of the 20th century Valencian painter, rejected the popular trends of French Romanticism in favor of en plein air, or the method of painting outdoors. Eschewing the heavy use of symbols and stylization which characterized the major techniques of the time, Sorolla focused on the iconic sunlight that bathes his Spanish coastal hometown. Depicted through loose brushstrokes and sketchy line work, this light flickers across scenes of Valencian fishermen hauling their catch to open markets, children running barefoot through the waves, aristocrats posing in gardens, and farmers driving their cattle across the shore. Known as the “Valencian Tradition,” Sorolla helped to establish an appreciation for everyday Spanish scenes depicted in an Impressionistic style.

Though first realized by Sorolla, this technique did not dissipate with the stylistic transitions through the twentieth century. Contemporary painter Giner Bueno follows Sorolla’s lessons in light while maintaining his own unique style. Bueno, also raised on the eastern Spanish coast, learned the Valencian Tradition from his father. The focus on local people navigating regional Valencian towns offers nostalgia for the past, while the iconic sunlight effect gives his paintings a sense of current movement. Bueno also observes the Impressionistic tradition of walking outdoors for inspiration, as reflected in his scenes of autumn leaves, flower markets in the town square, and beached boats on the shore. The influence of Sorolla’s light technique cannot be overlooked, with Bueno himself even noting “It is difficult for a Valencia painter to escape the luminosity of our land, to escape its color and its contrasts” (21). This focus on light enables Bueno’s paintings to suspend specific time periods and instead focus on the transience of a moment.

Fellow Spanish painter Eustaquio Segrelles also shares an appreciation for the realities of the Valencian lifestyle. He too hails from an artistic family, and learned to capture light and the progression of everyday life in his hometown of Albaida. A southern agricultural municipality with farm workers closely tied to the land, Segrelles exposes viewers to his world of producing crops, raising animals, and harvesting. Also unconstrained by specific time periods, Segrelles uses an Impressionistic style to give modern viewers a glimpse into traditional labor. We see mothers teaching children how to weave baskets, workers hauling oranges from the grove, fishermen straining to carry a modest boat out to the surf, and farmers pushing their oxen from the sea. All of Segrelles’ scenes are characterized by wide brushstrokes, attention to contour, and the iconic attention to light shared by his predecessor Joaquín Sorolla.

The cyclical nature of art and the continuation of legacy reinforce the necessity to understand earlier painters in order to fully appreciate contemporary artists. The Valencian Tradition challenges the notion of bygone historical trends and instead urges the reader to comprehend that the past is not dead, but rather continually recycled in the present day. Artists such as Bueno and Segrelles continue the Valencian Tradition introduced by Sorolla while presenting individualized traits. Just like the sunlight is regenerated with each new day, so too are old masters revitalized within the styles of new generations.