SOROLLA AND BENLLIURE
Sorolla and Benlliure forged a solid friendship throughout their lives. The letters, the gifts they exchanged, the portraits of Benlliure and his family with the dedication “my friend” or “my brother”, or the fact that Benlliure introduced Elena, his friend’s youngest daughter, to sculpture, bear witness to this close friendship.
Their artistic careers also developed in parallel: both enjoyed the success of their tireless work beyond the national arena: the United States, France, Chile, Argentina, Cuba… and were awarded the gold medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition.
While the painter embraced modernity through naturalism, luminism and impressionism, the sculptor, removed from any desire for artistic innovation, remained closer to 18th-century academicism, with outstanding technical virtuosity and themes catering to popular tastes.
1. Lucrecia Arana with her son
Joaquín Sorolla, 1906
Sorolla did a portrait of the Benlliure family. Mariano, in
the background, was sketching his wife for a
sculpture, and the foreground features Lucrecia and her son.
2. Lucrecia Arana
Mariano Benlliure Gil, 1906
“Museu de Belles Arts de València”
Benlliure chiselled a bust of his wife in marble that
combines the portrait of the three family members:
her as the leading character, Mariano inside the
brooch worn around her neck, and their son, close
to her chest.
3. Joaquín Sorolla plaque
Mariano Benlliure Gil, 1909
Sorolla Museum
In 1909, Benlliure made a bronze plaque of Sorolla’s
profile, in homage to the achievements of the painter.
4. Portrait of Mariano Benlliure
Joaquín Sorolla, 1919-1920
5. This sculpture is Benlliure’s posthumous tribute to his friend.
Anonymous, 1933
6. The sculptor Mariano Benlliure
Joaquín Sorolla, 1917