I recently spent a blissful hour at Portland’s Cargo Emporium, browsing through coffee table books. Nestled within the pages of Jackie Bennett’s “The Artist’s Garden: The Secret Spaces That Inspired Great Art,” I found myself transported to the sun-drenched garden of Spanish impressionist Joaquín Sorolla.
Sorolla’s Garden: A Living Canvas of Light and Color
Sorolla’s garden is a personal take on Moorish formality with plenty of painterly, lush, vibrant blooms, designed by the artist himself: a painter’s paradise, meticulously designed to be both a sanctuary and a source of inspiration. Picture a palette of whites, pinks, and violets, brought to life by:
- Jasmine, its perfume wafting on warm breezes
- Geraniums, adding pops of vibrant color
- Lilies, standing tall and elegant
- Hydrangeas, their lush blooms like painted clouds
Sorolla’s artistic vision extended beyond the floral palette. Inspired by the grandeur of the Alhambra, he wove in formal structural elements:
- Neatly pruned box hedges, providing structure and form
- Small-leaf evergreens, their deep greens a perfect backdrop
- Sun-soaked tiles, reflecting light in dazzling patterns
- Terracotta pots, their earthy tones grounding the space
The result is a garden that glows with silhouettes, shadows, and dappled light, both in his paintings and in real life.
A Family Affair: Art and Life Intertwined
Though drawing inspiration from some grand and formal gardens, it remains very liveable and intimate, and judging from his numerous paintings depicting it, a well-used family space. Though stylistically very different, it reminds me of the garden of Swedish artist, Carl Larsson, whose paintings often feature the garden as the backdrop of family life.
Recreate Sorolla’s Garden Style In Your Garden
Feeling inspired to add a touch of Sorolla’s sun-kissed paradise to your own little patch of earth? Here are some star players from his garden that you can easily incorporate:
Purple and White Irises
Surrounding the tiled Andalusian reflecting pool at Museo Sorolla, purple irises add a touch of elegance and color.
A few of our available Irises to recreate the look:
- The vivid purple Iris ensata ‘Silverband’
- The striking purple and white striped Iris ensata ‘Flashing Koi’
- The deliciously deep dark Iris ‘Black Gamecock’
- The luminous mauve-y, pewter-white Iris ‘Florentina’
Pink-Flowered Azalea
Though ubiquitous to us here in the Pacific Northwest, the pink flowered azaleas lend an exotic charm to Sorolla’s garden. They really are extraordinary—just look at those vibrant hues and abundant tropical-looking flowers.
A few of our available Azaleas to recreate the look:
- Buds resembling roses on the Rose Bud Evergreen Azalea
- Pink flowers with touches of yellowish-orange on the deciduous Arneson Cameo Azalea
- Deep reddish orange double blooms on the evergreen Greenwood Orange Azalea
Boxwood Parterre
Filled with a sea of pink wallflowers, the boxwood parterre was a favorite scene for Sorolla to paint.
A few options we’d use to recreate the look, complete with romantic pink flowers
- Prolific and long-blooming Geum Tempo™ Rose look smashing en masse, pink heads peeking above a mini boxwood hedge
- Rosa ‘Alchymist’ can be pruned as a small climber to frame the scene with double pink-apricot blooms
- A sweetly scented Pink Flowered Star Jasmine that blooms through spring and summer
- Anemone hupehensis var. japonica keeps the look going with in fall with deep pink blooms
- Browse Boxwoods to create your own Sorolla-like Parterre
Hydrangeas
This commissioned portrait of the Tiffany mogul was painted at his own garden in Long Island but I had to include it here because it’s just too electric with beautiful color not to share. Just wow. Sorolla WAS fond of hydrangreas in his own garden too which provided swaths of lushness and beauty and feature in several paintings done there. While not available to Sorolla at the time I think he would have been happy to include some of the extraordinary newer varieties.
Shop Sorolla-style Hydrangeas
- Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Penny Mac’, a classic mophead hydrangea with big prolific flowers that rebloom
- Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Bouquet Rose’ provides months of pale blooms
- Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nigra’ adds interest with black stems, which would tie in so nicely to the deep dark flowers of Iris ‘Black Gamecock’
Geraniums (Pelargoniums)
Sorolla had a passion for various geraniums and they can be seen used widely in his paintings, often in terracotta pots and acting as a star attraction. In a garden with a lot of evergreen structure they add shots of vibrant color.
- Get the look with Pelargonium peltatum (aka Ivy Geranium) which can often be seen in European plantings, scampering and spilling from balcony planters and formal garden urns
Lilies
Lilies provide romance and scent and although common and easy-to-grow, always feel luxuriant and a bit exotic.
Your Own Slice of Sorolla
The beauty of Sorolla’s garden is its accessibility. You don’t need a sprawling estate to capture its essence. With just a few well-chosen elements – some terracotta planters, structural evergreens, and splashes of painterly color – you can create your own artistic haven.
Want to dive deeper into Sorolla’s world? Take a virtual tour of the Museo Sorolla or start browsing plane tickets to Madrid.
We found new and used copies of The Artists’s Garden: The secret spaces that inspired great art, and many more wonderful gardening books At Abe Books.