Joaquin Sorolla: Sorolla and Fashion

Sorolla was the perfect chronicler of trends and styles in clothing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Spanish painter Joaquin Sorolla was a keen observer of the life and styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sorolla was fascinated by fashion, and the way women presented themselves at the seaside, in their homes, in cafes and on city streets; his letters home to his wife from his sojourns in Paris report on new trends and the dresses he was going to bring home for her and his daughters. Sorolla's interest in fashion is obvious in his work, even when it is not ostensibly his subject; the women who appear in his canvases--bathed in flickering light and registered in loose, dynamic brushstrokes--present an evocative catalog of the day's trends in dress, jewelry and accessories. Gossamer sashes blowing in sea air, dizzyingly delicate lace embroidery, and pleated bodices--Sorolla captured a sumptuous parade of styles in his paintings.