Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida Vendiendo melones

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (Spanish: [xoaˈkin soˈɾoʎa]) (27 February 1863 -- 10 August 1923) was a Spanish painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are characterized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the sunlight of his native land.

After his death, Sorolla's widow, Clotilde García del Castillo, left many of his paintings to the Spanish public. The paintings eventually formed the collection that is now known as the Museo Sorolla, which was the artist's house in Madrid. The museum opened in 1932.

Sorolla's work is represented in museums throughout Spain, Europe, America, and in many private collections in Europe and America. In 1933, J. Paul Getty purchased ten Impressionist beach scenes made by Sorolla, several of which are now housed in the J. Paul Getty Museum.

In 2007 many of his works were exhibited at the Petit Palais in Paris, alongside those of John Singer Sargent, a contemporary who painted in a similarly impressionist-influenced manner. In 2009, there was a special exhibition of his works at the Prado in Madrid, and in 2010, the exhibition visited the Oscar Niemeyer Museum in Curitiba, Brazil.

From 5 December 2011 to 10 March 2012, several of Sorolla's works were exhibited in Queen Sofía Spanish Institute, in New York. This exhibition included pieces used during Sorolla's eight year research for The Vision of Spain.

A new exhibition titled Sorolla & America explores Sorolla's unique relationship with the United States in the early twentieth century. The exhibition opens at the Meadows Museum at SMU in Dallas (13 December 2013 - 19 April 2014). From there it travels to the San Diego Museum of Art (30 May - 26 August 2014) and Fundación MAPFRE in Madrid (23 September 2014 - 11 January 2015).