Joaquín Sorolla (born in Valencia 1863 - died in Cercedilla 1923) is one of the most successful Spanish painters ever. He was a genius in capturing the essence of the scene he was painting. In Joaquín Sorolla Portraits 2 1900 -1910 Sorolla becomes a celebrated portrait painter. Following the success of his one man exhibitions in France 1906, to a lesser degree Germany 1907, England 1908 but especially the USA 1909 portrait commissions flooded in. But even before Paris Sorolla produced a large number of portraits. Many of his most important sitters were male, but Sorolla did exquisite female portraits as well. Among his most successful portraits were those of female sitters whom he invariably imbued with an elegance and beauty that rank them alongside the portraits of his contemporaries Giovanni Boldini, Anders Zorn and John Singer Sargent.