In the sea of Sorolla with Manuel Vicent at Palau Martorell

The Palau Martorell presents one of the largest exhibitions dedicated to Joaquín Sorolla in Barcelona, which can be visited from December 5th to April 6th, 2026, bringing together 86 masterpieces of the Valencian painter. "In the sea of Sorolla with Manuel Vicent," carried out in collaboration with the Sorolla Museum and the Sorolla Museum Foundation, offers an unprecedented exhibition concept in which the Valencian writer Manuel Vicent carries out a literary curating around the work of Joaquín Sorolla, achieving an unusual dialogue between painting and literature. Visitors will enjoy iconic works such as "The Bath Hour, Valencia," "The Balandret," "The Arrival of the Boats, Valencia," and "Fisherman with her son, Valencia."

The Palau Martorell invites the viewer to immerse themselves in the work of Joaquín Sorolla through the eyes of Manuel Vicent, with an exhibition of a poetic and visual journey. The exhibition proposes the existence of an aesthetic and moral attitude towards the sea. An attitude that, in a way, both artists, Sorolla and Vicent, share.

Manuel Vicent constructs, through a careful selection of paintings belonging to the Sorolla Museum collection, a visual itinerary on the representation of the sea and its scenes in Sorolla's work. At the same time, using these paintings, the writer weaves a narrative ? which is at the same time biographical, literary, and aesthetic ? about Sorolla's painting, the Mediterranean, its people, and himself and his relationship with the sea.

Vicent is considered by critics as "the Sorolla of our literature." His literature is characterized by a virtuous, poignant, beautiful, and realistic style. The writer practices a luminous and sensual prose, full of nuances, representing the world through the experience of the senses. Just like with Sorolla, it is difficult to understand the scope of his literature without the Mediterranean and the Levant, without its people or landscapes, as a context in which he develops it. In both creators, their Mediterranean roots are a reference to their literary identity.

Jose Félix Bentz, CEO Co-founder of the Palau Martorell, states: "Joaquín Sorolla, the distinguished painter who knew how to capture ?as few have done? the nuances of the Mediterranean light, preserving its intensity and exalting its energy, returns for the second time to the Palau Martorell. With 'In the sea of Sorolla with Manuel Vicent,' the Palau Martorell reaffirms its vocation to be a versatile and open space, designed to complement Barcelona's rich cultural fabric and become a true artistic engine. A firm commitment to enrich the city's cultural offer through exhibitions dedicated to great creators who have marked art history."

Enrique Varela Agüí, director of the Sorolla Museum, highlights that: "The Mediterranean is where the two artists, painter and writer, converge, united by a naturalistic, resplendent, almost dazzling look. Sorolla appears with his most exciting beach paintings, his most striking fishing scenes, or his most dazzling sea visions. Vicent appears with his precise prose, with his memories, experiences, and reflections on Sorolla, the sea, his characters, and his scenarios. Sorolla's sea becomes a space for literary creation for Vicent."

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog that collects the complete literary narrative that Manuel Vicent has created for the exhibition, turning this volume into an original work by the writer, accompanied by images of Joaquín Sorolla's paintings.

'In the sea of Sorolla with Manuel Vicent' is composed of a selection of 86 works that the writer has divided into four thematic sections: 'The subconscious is full of algae,' 'A naturalistic drama under the light of the Mediterranean,' 'Bourgeois vacationers in Cabanyal,' and 'In the sea of Xàbia.'