My Friend Portillo (Mi Amigo Portillo)

Joaquín Sorolla completed many portraits of his friends, and this is a good example of his well-crafted style. The portrait is of his friend Portillo, who was also a painter. The work conveys the essence of Sorolla's approach and is full of Mediterranean light. Sorolla was a follower of Spanish painters Antonio Muñoz Degraín and Francisco Pradilla Ortiz. He was an Impressionist painter whose work clearly shows a predilection for capturing fleeting moments using loose brushstrokes.