"Sorolla and America" Symposium Part 2 of 3

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM 2014 Saturday, February 8, 2-5 PM Sorolla and America 3 PM "Sorolla and la españolada: In Search of the Authentic Spain" Alisa Luxenberg, Professor of 18th- and 19th-Century European Art, University of Georgia This talk will explore Sorolla's ambivalence toward certain stereotypes of Spain, what he called la españolada. If he declared his intent to avoid it in his art, he nevertheless chose to depict figures and customs common to standardized imagery of his native land, such as bulls, flamenco, mantillas, and Catholic ritual. Comparing his treatment of such subjects to that by Spanish, French, and American contemporaries can help us discern why Sorolla's imagery of Spain was perceived as honest, healthy and modern. The fundamental issue, for Sorolla as well as his critics, seems to have been authenticity: who had the right or insight to identify and represent the "authentic" Spain to others.