Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (Valencia, 1863 - Cercedilla, 1923) was one of the major Spanish painters at the turn of the 19th century; his paintings exude light, and appear modern and photographic-like, capturing dynamic moments of gentle and subtle realism, capable of staging the contemporary, without commenting it. An authentic visual poetry presenting a marine rural Spain rooted in tradition; an artistic style relevantly set between Goya and Picasso, marking a crucial milestone in the course of Spanish and European painting.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan, this monograph documents the long and prolific artistic career of this important protagonist of the international art scene in the decades between the 19th and the 20th centuries: scenes of life by the sea, fishermen, beautiful and fleeting real-life moments (with children playing by the sea and women strolling along the beach), as well as portraits in the wake of the grand portraiture tradition established by Greco, Goya, Velázquez, interpreted with modern photographic take.

The main subject of the Spanish painter's art however was always the Mediterranean light, that the artist masterfully captured on his canvases with vibrant, light, bright palettes and pure dazzling whites; his extraordinary works en plein air by the sea make Sorolla an exponent of an accomplished Mediterranean impressionism.