Palau Martorell: Presents The Exhibition “In Sorolla’s Sea With Manuel Vicent”

Next Thursday, 4 December at 11:30 a.m., Palau Martorell will unveil the exhibition “In Sorolla’s Sea with Manuel Vicent”, organised in collaboration with the Sorolla Museum and the Sorolla Museum Foundation.

The exhibition introduces a unique curatorial approach in which Valencian writer Manuel Vicent has crafted a literary interpretation of Joaquín Sorolla’s work, creating an unprecedented dialogue between painting and literature.

Drawing from his own memories, Manuel Vicent develops a narrative itinerary articulated through 86 works by Joaquín Sorolla and structured into four thematic sections. “The Subconscious Is Filled with Seaweed” explores Vicent’s relationship with the Mediterranean Sea from childhood to adolescence, through iconic pieces such as The Bathing Hour, Valencia, or The Little Sailing Boat. “A Naturalist Drama Under Mediterranean Light” focuses on the fishermen and fisherwomen of the Cabanyal beach, portrayed in emblematic paintings such as The Arrival of the Boats, Valencia or Fisherwoman with Her Child, Valencia.

The third section, “Bourgeois Holidaymakers in the Cabanyal”, depicts the summer life of Valencia’s upper middle class at the turn of the 20th century, featuring portraits of Sorolla’s wife, Clotilde, their children, and his father-in-law, Antonio García. The itinerary concludes with “At Sea in Xàbia”, where Vicent presents a space dedicated to pleasure, beauty, and the sea as a form of spirituality, through the works Sorolla painted in this coastal enclave of Alicante.

“In Sorolla’s Sea with Manuel Vicent” will open to the public on 5 December and remain on view until 6 April 2026.