Filántropo Archer Milton Huntington was impressed when in 1908 he saw the work of the painter Joaquín Sorolla exhibited in London. After the discovery, Huntington invited the Valencian to exhibit his paintings at the Hispanic Society of America, a society that the philanthropist founded in New York a few years ago. The exhibition was a success and during the later years this institution bought most of the sorolla works that currently custody. More than a century after that discovery, the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, and the director and CEO of the Hispanic Society, Guillaume Kientz, have signed on Thursday the agreement by which 220 works of the painter will be exhibited in Valencia from 2026. With the deal, the Valencian capital will become the second pinacoteca of the world dedicated the artist, after the New York.
For this, a museum dedicated to the painter will be created in the Palace of Communications, the old postal building that is located in the Town Hall Square. The act has taken place in the Saló de Corts of the Palau de la Generalitat, headquarters of the regional presidency.
The Generalitat will pay the US entity an annual fee of 1,150,000 euros for art pieces, which will be exhibited from 2026. The loan will include oils, gouachesdrawings, photographs, sculptures and personal correspondence of Sorolla, with the intention of offering intimate and unusual portrait of the life, work and influence of the master of light. Among the most outstanding paintings that will be exhibited stand out Afternoon sun (1903), a radiant and iconic scene of Valencian life that exemplifies Sorolla’s mastery with light and movement.
The signed agreement is valid for four years, extendable for four others, and may be renewed for additional successive periods. The aspiration of both parties is that the agreements are signed for a minimum of 15 years.
To launch the project, the Generalitat undertakes to condition the Palace of Communications, its property. The selection must have the validation of Blanca Pons-Sorolla, an expert in the work of his great-grandfather. Pons-Sorolla has participated in the spot and has been excited during his speech.
The museum will be the first international headquarters of the Hispanic Society and will work as its European representation. A store related to exhibitions and Café Huntington will open next to the exhibition rooms, in honor of the founder of the company.
In his speech, Mazón has assured that the “European headquarters” of the Hispanic Society of America will make the city “an international reference of top -level art”, by housing “the second largest collection in the world of sorolla” after her house museum in Madrid. It has also advanced that the Palace of Communications will host other activities such as temporary exhibitions and concerts.
Mazón has expressed that Valencia Salda “a historical debt” with his most universal painter.
The Chief of the Consell thanked the “tenacity, diligence and generosity” of the participants in the project and has predicted that it will help position Valencia as “Cultural Pole of the Mediterranean”, thanks to the work of a painter who raised to the capital of Turia as “universal symbol of beauty.”
Since the Hispanic Society, Guillaume Kientz has agreed that this project means “correcting a historical breach” that “the most famous of the Valencians” did not have a specific space in his city. “Sorolla belongs to everyone and for all,” he has claimed, and stressed that the collaboration opens “a large window in Europe” with the future “permanent headquarters” of the entity in Valencia.
The painter’s great -granddaughter has pronounced some brief words in which she recalled that Sorolla was “the best ambassador we had in our country” because “the happiness of a people took to the world at a time when history was sad.”