The horse's bath

This beach scene shows a boy holding a white horse by its bridle as the animal wades into the sea at El Cabañal, in Valencia. Sorolla painted it in 1909, as part of a series of beach canvases he made that summer after returning from the United States in 1906. It is among the most notable works of that group, alongside others such as Walk Along the Seashore.

The composition stands out for its high viewpoint, a device Sorolla often used. From this elevation, the horse's rump and the boy's figure form a long, sloping foreground that compresses the horizon into a narrow band. Sorolla probably did this to avoid the glare of the bright sky and to direct attention toward the sand and the rippling line of the water.

The painter's technique is visible across these surfaces: loose, thickly applied, agile brushwork that renders the shadows, reflections and glints of the sea with great fluency.

Painter

Joaquín Sorolla

Date

1909

Medium

oil paint

Dimensions

205 × 250 cm

Museum

Sorolla Museum, Madrid

Movement

modern art, Impressionism

Genre

nude

Depicts

horse, child

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