Noria, Jávea

Noria, Jávea is an oil on canvas that Joaquín Sorolla completed in 1900 and that is now held at the Museo Sorolla in Madrid. The scene shows a noria, the wooden waterwheel used to lift water for irrigation, turned by a donkey walking in an open space. Around it spread vegetation and, in the distance, the sea, placing the scene in the coastal setting of Jávea, in the province of Alicante. Sorolla was drawn to the Mediterranean landscape and to rural work carried out beside the water, and in works like this one he combines direct observation of everyday labour with clear, warm light. The painting helps explain how he portrayed the countryside of the Valencian and Alicante regions: an attentive look at simple life, rendered with loose brushwork and luminous colour. The sources consulted give no further details about its commission or early reception, so it is best to stay with what the picture itself shows.

Painter

Joaquín Sorolla

Date

1900

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Museum

Sorolla Museum, Madrid

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