Museo Sorolla occupies the house and studio that the painter Joaquín Sorolla built for himself in 1911 in what was then the northern edge of the city. The building is arranged around an Andalusian-style garden that Sorolla designed himself, with azulejo tilework, a central fountain, palms, and the deliberate calibration of shade and light that characterises the painter's approach to outdoor space. The house is preserved largely as it was during Sorolla's lifetime: the studio contains the painter's working collection, his furniture, and the evidence of a prolific practice. The garden is the most visited room, though room is the wrong word — it is a constructed exterior that operates with the logic of an interior, organised by axis and enclosure. Mornings are the correct time; the light enters the courtyard from the east and illuminates the tilework before it reaches the facade. The museum is two streets from the Paseo de la Castellana but operates at a different pace from its surroundings.
Almagro, Madrid, Spain