Sorolla y Bastida Under the Awning boxed note cards

Painted in Zarauz on Spain's north Atlantic coast, near San Sebastián and the French border, this painting captures the different light and the elegant atmosphere of the fashionable beaches of the area. (The Spanish court moved each summer to San Sebastián, and nearby Biarritz was the height of fashion, being frequented by the Prince of Wales and the Kaiser. The Mediterranean coast was considered much too hot and uncomfortable by royalty and the aristocracy.) Many of Sorolla's best sketches were painted here, but he painted very few large canvases on the beach, and these always in Zarauz. Perhaps the beaches at San Sebastián and Biarritz were too social for putting up an easel and setting to work, whereas a paintbox with sketch in the top passed almost unnoticed.

Ten 5 x 7" note cards with envelopes.