The Peppers

The Peppers from 1903, at the Hispanic Society of America, depicts Valencian red peppers — a staple of the regional cuisine and a subject with intensely local flavor. Sorolla painted the foods, textiles, and material culture of Valencia with the same interest he brought to its people and landscape, documenting the specific sensory world of his home region. The brilliant red of peppers against the warm Valencian light presented an ideal coloristic subject for a painter whose career was built on pure chromatic intensity. Huntington's collection of these intimate studies alongside Sorolla's major exhibition paintings reflects his understanding of the full range of the artist's production.

The brilliant red of the peppers is rendered with the same directness and confidence Sorolla brought to all his subjects — thick strokes of vivid pigment that capture the glossy skin of fresh vegetables with remarkable economy. The complementary green of stems and leaves intensifies the red by contrast.