Walk on the beach (Spanish: Paseo a la orilla del mar or Paseo a orillas del mar), is a 1909 oil on canvas painting by the Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla.
Description
It has a height of 205 cm and a width of 200 cm. and shows the wife and eldest daughter of the painter during a walk on the beach in Valencia. The painting is part of the collection of the Museo Sorolla in Madrid.
Analysis
The large canvas is almost square in format and unusually monumental for a beach view. The life-size women depicted are Sorolla's wife Clotilde and his eldest daughter Maria. Sorolla painted the scenery at the Playa de El Cabanyal beach in his hometown of Valencia. Both women lean forward slightly so that they appear to move toward the right edge. While the wife stands straight, aligned to the edge, the daughter Maria has slightly turned her head to her right shoulder and is looking towards the viewer.
Mother and daughter both wear long white sundresses. The elegant presentation, which also includes a straw hat for each and a parasol for the mother, is typical of the fashion of the time, around 1910. The 19-year-old Maria has a simple floor-length dress that emphasizes her slender silhouette. At the neck the dress is finished with a stand-up collar. The tight-fitting sleeves contrast with the rest of the dress, and are of a more transparent white cloth, through which shines the skin. Of similar fabric is an panel of cloth mounted below the chest on a large ring. The sea wind blows the cloth into arabesques behind the daughter. Under the dress appears a brown leather shoe; on its side reflections emphasize the smooth surface. In her right hand Maria holds a yellow straw hat with a wide, sweeping brim, decorated with purple colored flowers and a turquoise bow. She has pinned her brown hair into a knot, so that her face comes into its own.
The figure behind the daughter, Clotilde Sorolla, also wears a white dress, her hips accented by a white belt. Thus both the breasts and the buttocks have clearer contours than the daughter's. Clothilde's dress has cropped sleeves, and she carries a jacket, also made of white fabric, on her left forearm in front of her abdomen. In her left hand she holds an open white parasol, which is angled to the ground on the left side. Under Clotilde's dress are two elegant white women's shoes with small heels. On her head Clotilde wears a straw hat, which is also decorated with purple colored flowers. In addition, a greenish-transparent veil is draped over the entire hat, and falls forward over her face and is blown backward almost horizontally in the wind. Clotilde has bent her right arm upward and her hand lies on the veil. This creates the impression that she must adjust it due to the wind veil or even hold it in place. Of the head of Clotilde little can be seen. Large parts of face, depicted in profile, are in shadow and only the chin is in brighter sunlight. Also, the wide sweeping hat obscures the hair almost completely. Just behind a pearl earring is a bit of dark hair. While the young face of the daughter Maria is looks directly into the sun, the face of the mother is hidden by the shadow of the hat. The clothes and accessories show the two women to be members of the upper class spending their free time in the summer with mild temperatures and light winds.