Bulls in the Sea

Bulls in the Sea is a painting by Joaquin Sorolla from 1903. It is one of many artworks that he produced from the beach-side in his native Valencia.

Within the composition we find several bulls being lead through to the shore by local workers. A small boat is visible in the background and the entire setting is flooded with a low tide. One can imagine the strength and toil of dealing with these huge animals that the workers must have endured all week long. Sorolla would address their lives in several of his works, though was also more generally interested in all of the goings-on that happened across the beach in his native region. The setting allowed some dramatic use of lighting, as the bright Spanish sun would reflect in all manner of different directions across the artwork. This was ideally suited to the artist's style which was highly similar to the French Impressionists and focused most on light and colour. Sorolla himself was a master of those challenges and this lied behind his considerable success as an artist.

The main colours found within this painting are purple and blue, with white being used to incorporate the bright sun as it impacts the items in this scene. Sorolla tackled this part of the city many times and so was comfortable in depicting local boats as well as the cattle that would somtimes be used for heavy-lifting duties. The work itself gives us a great insight to life in more traditional times, as you would be unlikely to see such things today, with technology replacing the use of animals in the majority of workplaces within Europe. You may also notice how some areas are quite dark, as Sorolla implements a strong shadow which faces towards us and provides a stark contrast with the light from the top right.

The painting can now be located in the Sorolla Museum, where it sits alongside a large number of artworks from this artist's career. There is also a good variety of other items there too, such as letters and documents from his lifetime in order to help you to really get a broad understanding of the artist's life and achievements. He is rightly treated as one of the masters of Spanish art, and performs well against the related Impressionists from across in France. He was most impressive in his use of colour and light and these were integral elements of the entire Impressionist movement which eventually spread right across the world thanks to the achievements of masters such as Claude Monet. It remains popular today and has remained relevant to our lives a little more so than traditional art from before the 19th century that is more discussed in terms of its highly impressive technical qualities.