El Modernismo

De Sorolla à Picasso 1880-1918

A survey of Spanish art at the dawn of the twentieth century, a neglected but fascinating period heralding the birth of modern Spanish art.

This is the catalogue of the El Modernismo. De Sorolla à Picasso 1880-1918 exhibition held at the Fondation l’Hermitage and provides a panorama of Spanish art at the turn of the twentieth century. The exhibition followed the development of a group of painters, the “1898 generation,” which emerged from the many upheavals that ravaged Spain during the nineteenth century. Fluctuating between respect for Spanish traditions and the attractions of a growing, more irreverent modern sensibility, their works formed an integral part of the initial experiments of the Spanish avant-garde.

Spanish art at the turn of the twentieth century was extraordinarily rich and diverse and has been unjustly neglected outside its country of origin. Between Goya’s death and Picasso’s cubist period lie several intriguing decades in which the foundations were laid for the birth of modern Spanish art. With this exhibition, the Hermitage Foundation helped visitors rediscover a part of Spain’s hidden treasures, many of which were displayed in Switzerland for the first time.

The exhibition catalogue contains commentary by William Hauptman, the curator of the exhibition, Blanca Pons-Sorolla (the great-granddaughter of the painter Joachin Sorolla), and Javier Baron (curator at the Prado Museum, Madrid). The hundred or so works on display are all reproduced in full colour and represent a wide range of artists, including Anglada, Beruete, Casas, Mir, Picasso, Pinazo, Regoyos, Rusiñol, Sorolla, and Zuloaga.

William Hauptman is an american art historian and author of the catalogue raisonné of Charles Gleyre. He has organized several exhibitions at Fondation de l’Hermitage, such as L’Âge d’or de l’aquarelle anglaise (1999), L’Impressionnisme américain (2003), Impressions du Nord. La peinture scandinave 1800-1915 (2005), and La Belgique dévoilée. De l’impressionnisme à l’expressionnisme (2008).