SOROLLA - THE MAN WHO PAINTED SPAIN

DOCUMENTARY Synopsis

This is a film about the best artist you've never heard of.

Shortly before he died, Spanish impressionist Joaquín Sorolla completed the mammoth task of painting a set of huge panels that showcased his country’s culture at the start of the 20th Century. The result was a kaleidoscopic celebration of the universal glimpsed in our own back yards and a homage to the intrinsic commonalities we all share; of difference and diversity - the very glue that binds us together and makes us human.

100 years on, Spain-based photographer Dan Llewellyn is on a journey to discover what remains of the Spain Sorolla painted. Bouncing back and forth through a century, with tantalising echoes of the past in contemporary Spanish life, the film will take you on an epic journey across Europe's most diverse country to discover the people and places that inspired one of Spain's greatest artists.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Dan Llewellyn lives and breathes Sorolla.

As an Art History teacher he has extensively studied Sorolla’s life; as a photographer he has captured many of the scenes his hero painted.

Dan spent over 6 years tracking Sorolla’s journey around Spain, photographing the places that Sorolla painted for ‘Vision of Spain’ to document how the country has changed.

He has exhibited these photographs in various cities around the country including alongside original Sorolla paintings.

Dan’s interest in Sorolla developed whilst he was working as a professor of The History of Spanish Art at the Menéndez Pelayo University in Santander.

Dan lives in Cantabria in Northern Spain with his wife and two young children. Dan is bilingual and has lived and worked in Spain since 2003.