Clotilde García Castillo (1865-1929) married Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (Spanish Realist/Impressionist painter, 1863-1923) at the age of 23 and they ended their days together.
The painter died six years before her, in 1923.
Clotilde donated all her assets to the State for the foundation of a museum in honour of her husband's work - the family home where the Sorolla Museum stands today.
Joaquín Sorolla | Clotilde seated on the Sofa (Clotilde sentada en un sofá), 1910 | Museo Sorolla, Madrid
Of all the portraits Sorolla painted of his wife, this is probably the most successful and is a fundamental work within the context of his artistic production.
The viewer is presented here with a refined lady, reflecting her social status and so mirroring her husband’s professional success.
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida | Clotilde seated on the Sofa, 1910 | Museo Sorolla
Clotilde is dressed in an exquisite white gown and delicate satin shoes.
Although in Spanish painting of the time there are many examples of sophisticated portraits, here in this most elegant of his portraits Sorolla certainly had in mind the high society portraits of John Singer Sargent, well-known to him: portraits in which the sitters in their elegant formal clothes often seem not be posing, but simply to be there.
The portrait of Clotilde playing this same double game seems however to be free of any affectation and the result is completely natural, as she conveys serene contentment.
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida | Self-portrait with dedication to Clotilde, 1909 | Museo Sorolla
Joaquín Sorolla | Señora de Sorolla in Black, 1906 | Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sorolla’s wife Clotilde was his confidant, traveling companion, bookkeeper (or in his words, "my Treasury Minister"), and muse.
In this portrait, set in their Madrid home, she poses as a Spanish beauty wearing a striking evening dress.
Behind her is Sorolla’s painting of a female saint, made during the first months of their marriage in 1888.
At far right the artist depicted the edge of another canvas - a conceit recalling the work of seventeenth-century master and fellow countryman Velázquez.
The present picture hung prominently in Sorolla’s wildly successful 1909 exhibition at the Hispanic Society of America in New York, where The Met immediately acquired it. | Source: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida | Señora de Sorolla (Clotilde García del Castillo, 1865-1929) in Black, 1906 | Metropolitan Museum of Art
La moglie di Sorolla, Clotilde, era la sua confidente, compagna di viaggio, contabile (o nelle sue parole, "il mio ministro del Tesoro") e musa ispiratrice.
In questo ritratto, ambientato nella loro casa di Madrid, posa come una bellezza spagnola che indossa uno splendido abito da sera.
Dietro di lei c'è il dipinto di Sorolla raffigurante una santa, realizzato durante i primi mesi del loro matrimonio nel 1888.
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida | Santa Clotilde, 1888-1889 | Museo Nacional del Prado
All'estrema destra l'artista ha raffigurato il bordo di un'altra tela, un'idea che ricorda l'opera del maestro e connazionale del XVII secolo Velázquez.
Il dipinto in questione era ben visibile nella mostra di grande successo di Sorolla del 1909, presso la Hispanic Society of America di New York, dove il Met lo acquistò immediatamente. | Fonte: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida and Clotilde
Sorolla is sweet and offers her all his love without conditions.
Nothing is more important than Clotilde:
"Although children are children, you are more to me, much more than them, for many reasons that do not need to be mentioned, you are my flesh, my life and my brain, you fill all the emptiness that my life as a man without the affection of a father and mother had before I met you".
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida with his wife Clotilde and children
Clotilde García Castillo (1865-1929) sposò Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (Pittore realista/impressionista Spagnolo, 1863-1923) all'età di 23 anni e finirono i loro giorni insieme.
Il pittore morì sei anni prima di lei, nel 1923.
Clotilde donò tutti i suoi beni allo Stato per la fondazione di un museo in onore dell'opera del marito - la casa di famiglia dove oggi sorge il Museo Sorolla, a Madrid.
Sorolla era dolce con la Clotilde e le offrì tutto il suo amore senza condizioni.
Niente è più importante di lei:
""Anche se i bambini sono bambini, tu sei più per me, molto più di loro, per tanti motivi che non è necessario menzionare, sei la mia carne, la mia vita e il mio cervello, riempi tutto il vuoto che aveva la mia vita di uomo senza l'affetto di un padre e di una madre prima di conoscerti".
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