Intimate Sorolla. Sketches “Vision of Spain”

Valencia, Valencia, Comunidad Valenciana.
Medal/Award in the category Conservation / Conservation and adaptive reuse in the year 2018.

Dating of the building: 20th century.

Applicant: Gemma María Contreras Zamorano, Subdirectorate of Conservation, Restoration and Research of the IVCR + i.

Reason for the award :

The project reflects the evolution of a work of art, putting the focus of attention on the process and not only on the final result; it also reveals the interest of the United States in an artist fundamental to the European culture of the 20th century; the jury additionally highlights the successful collaboration between institutions on both sides of the ocean.

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The exhibition Intimate Sorolla, sketches from “Vision of Spain” allowed us to show both Sorolla’s creative process, through his sketches, and the complex restoration intervention carried out by IVCR + i professionals who used the Japanese technique SOKO and the more respectful and advanced criteria in conservation and restoration.

The “Vision of Spain” series arises from the meeting between Archer Milton Huntington, founder of the Hispanic Society of America in New York, and a Joaquín Sorolla in complete consecration as an international painter. In 1911, Huntington commissioned this set of works on the different regions and traditions of Spain and stipulated in the contract that the entire creative process, including the sketches of the paintings, would become part of the New York collections.

The IVCR + i restored 32 of those sketches between May 2013 and December 2014 in Valencia. The restoration was the result of a multidisciplinary work in which paper and paint restorers, physicists, chemists, photographers, and art historians from IVCR + i participated alongside other collaborating institutions.

Others awards in Comunidad Valenciana: