Summer Days
From Sorolla to Hopper
28 March - 6 September 2015
Cecilio Pla
1903
Gouache on coloured paper, 41.7 x 57.6 cm
Museo ABC de Dibujo e Ilustración, Madrid
Ignacio Zuloaga
c. 1895–97
Oil on canvas, 97.5 x 65.5 cm
Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao
Portraits
One of the most popular painting genres of the 1800s was undoubtedly portraiture. Portraits were in demand among the wealthy classes as visual expressions of their purchasing power and status.
The custom of having one’s portrait painted outdoors became fashionable at the end of the century and, in keeping with the new tastes, many painters portrayed their subjects in coastal settings, producing images that are highly representative of the bourgeois types who frequented the summer resorts.