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Blasco and Sorolla were able to capture the emotions of Valencian and Mediterranean life with their naturalistic and realistic approach. We find Blasco’s Valencian character in the localism of his novels, which are rich in geographical, linguistic, costumbrist and historical references, yet invariably with a lively and colourful touch. Similarly, Sorolla adopted the Valencian Mediterranean as the main setting for his works to show not only a geography but also the activities and people who live there, with the same lively and colourful style.�

Their mutual influence on one another is also evident. Sorolla’s painting ¡Aún dicen que el pescado es caro! (Fish is still expensive, they say!) was inspired by the last passage of Blasco Ibáñez’s novel Flor de Mayo (Mayflower), which describes the shipwreck of the boat “Flor de mayo” and which ends with the sentence: “…aún les parecía caro el pescado?” (…still think the fish was expensive?). The novel was published in instalments in the Republican newspaper El Pueblo, founded by Blasco.