Isabelita and Thor

1893

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida

Associated Names
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida

Artist, Spanish, 1863 - 1923

This painting shows a young girl standing beside a large dog. The girl has a fair complexion and straight brown hair that falls on her shoulders. She is wearing a dark burgundy dress with a white lace collar, black stockings, and shoes. She looks directly at us. The dog to the left reaches almost to her shoulder and has a light gray coat. Its mouth is slightly open, revealing a pink tongue and the tips of white teeth. The background is mostly plain gray walls, but on the right side there is elegant drapery in shades of deep red and gold with intricate teal designs.

Media Options

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On View

West Building, Main Floor, Gallery M69

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Patrons' Permanent Fund

  • Dimensions

    overall: 200.98 × 141.29 cm (79 1/8 × 55 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2025.5.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Commissioned 1893 by Augusto Comas y Blanco [1863 – 1953], Madrid;[1] purchased 1940s by Manuel Fernandez-Aldao, Madrid; by descent 2014 to private collection, Madrid; (Colnaghi, London); purchased 2025 by NGA.

[1] Comas y Blanco was the father of the painting's subject, Isabelita.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1893

  • Exposición Bienal del Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid, 1893, no. 483.

Bibliography

1893

  • Almanaque de La Ilustración para el año de 1894. 21 (1893): 45, engraved.

  • Comas y Blanco, Augusto. “La exposición del Circulo de Belles Artes.” Blanco y Negro: revista ilustrada 3, no. 110 (10 June 1893): 383, repro., 384.

  • “Exposición del Círculo de Bellas Artes en 1893, ‘Nuestros Grabados, Bellas Artes.’” La Ilustración española y americana. 37, no. 22 (15 June 1893); cover, engraved, 386.

1953

  • Pantorba, Bernardino de. La vida y la obra de Joaquín Sorolla. Madrid, 1953: no. 1854, repro.

2001

  • Pons-Sorolla, Blanca. Joaquín Sorolla, vida y obra. Madrid, 2001: 128-129.

2019

  • Pons-Sorolla, Blanca. Sorolla. Catálogo razonado. Colección de pinturas del Museo Sorolla. Madrid, 2019: no. BPS 996.

2025

  • Morton, Mary. "Gifts and Acquisitions. Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, Isabelita and Thor." _ Art for the Nation_ 70 (Summer 2025): 16-17, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: J. Sorolla. 1893

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