Self Portrait

This is one of the eight self-portraits in the Museum. Dedicated to Clotilde like most of the others, it was painted at a very important point in the artist’s life. A few months earlier, in February 1909, Sorolla had held an individual exhibition at the Hispanic Society of America, which was acclaimed by critics and public and with unprecedented sales of his paintings had ensured the artist’s financial security and his professional future. Although Sorolla painted this portrait in his studio, immersed in his work, he shows himself wearing an elegant grey felt hat, in a long tradition of self- portraits where artists depict themselves formally dressed, rather than in their working clothes.In this portrait, intended for his immediate family, the artist allows himself considerable technical freedom, using the qualities of the oil paints to maximum advantage, combining almost liquid brushstrokes with other areas of heavy impasto, attracting the attention of the viewer with his gesture and the intensity of his gaze.