Galicia

Galicia, painted in 1915 and now at the Hispanic Society of America, is one of the fourteen Vision of Spain panels Sorolla produced for Huntington's library cycle. Galicia — the rainy, Celtic northwestern corner of Spain — presented a radical contrast to Sorolla's native Valencia: its landscapes are green and mist-softened, its coastal culture Atlantic rather than Mediterranean, its traditional costume distinct from the sunlit fabrics of the south. The challenge for Sorolla was to maintain his artistic identity — fundamentally luminous, warm, direct — while honestly depicting a region whose light and colour existed at the opposite end of the Spanish climatic spectrum. Galicia's religious culture, with its famous pilgrimage destination of Santiago de Compostela, and its fishing communities provided the human subjects for the panel.

The Galicia panel requires Sorolla's most sustained departure from his signature palette. Greens, greys, and cool blues dominate where Valeria's oranges and brilliant whites would typically appear. The coastal fishing subjects he found in Galicia allowed him to maintain his mastery of water and outdoor light while shifting the entire colour temperature cooler. Brushwork remains bold and confident even as the palette transforms.