Children in the Sea

Joaquin Sorolla produced several paintings under the title of Children in the Sea, or Ninos en el Mar, in the years 1908 and 1909. They were all based on the beaches of Valencia, a location in which the artist worked many times.

The iteration found in front of us here is not as well known as some of the others, but we can still understand a lot about it from our overall knowledge of the artist's work during this period. Sorolla adored the Valencian coast and would feature it many times, alternating between different figures as he went. Children featured frequently, normally enjoying their leisure time with a freedom and innocence that we all love to see. There were also boats and fishermen, helping to add an element of social commentary to some of the paintings. Children in the Sea from 1909 is all about fun, though, as we see a stream of children running into the deepening water from the shore. They are relatively small within this artwork, meaning we cannot make out quite as many details as in other works on this theme. It does however allow us to see some small sailing boats in the background as Sorolla produces more of a traditional style of composition.

There was a consistent palette across all of his beach scenes, with tones of blue, purple, white and a sandy brown being enough for almost the entire composition. We see that here as well within Children in the Sea. Two stripes of white run horizontally across the canvas to represent the breaking waves and these help to break up large plains of blue which slowly transitions into purple as we get closer to shore. The children are too small here to really change the balance of colour too much and the same white tone from the waves continues on with the sails of the boats. There is therefore a consistency across the canvas, but not quite the impact of some of Sorolla's more famous paintings. Earlier in his career he also worked with darker colour schemes many times, partly under the influence of Diego Velazquez. He would study this great master at the Prado Museum in Madrid, before later appearing there himself.

Sorolla would return to Valencia many times as his career developed, even though he would have to travel frequently in order to promote his work as best as he could. The artist started to achieve success once he exhibited his work across Europe, sometimes alongside other artists, but also eventually with his own personal exhibitions. He would find some some nations took to his work more than others and it would be his native Spain plus the US which seemed to particularly appreciate his work first of all. He would solifify his popularity in those countries first, building up a series of wealthy patrons, before then continuing to try to woo other countries such as the UK and France.