JoaquÌn Sorolla y Bastida (Spanish, 1863 - 1923), Portrait of the artist's niece

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida (Spanish, 1863 - 1923) Study of a woman's head for the painting “Oath of the Constitution by Her Majesty the Queen Regent Doña María Cristina de Habsburgo” Madrid, 1897 Oil on canvas Provenance: Juan Antonio García del Castillo; Jaime García Banús; José Entrecanales Ibarra; Delfina Entrecanales; Thence by descent. Dimensions: (Frame) 24 in. (H) x 17 in. (W) (Canvas) 20.5 in. (H) x 13.5 in. (W) It is very likely that the original provenance of this work was that of Juan Antonio García del Castillo, son of the photographer Antonio García, since D. José Entrecanales acquired several works from that source and they had several of the studies for the Oath of the Constitution. In the photograph from the HSA Archive, it is noted that the model was chosen for her resemblance to Queen Maria Cristina of Habsburg.  We are grateful to Blanca Pons Sorolla for her help in cataloguing this lot and for confirming that this painting will be included in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work (Inv. 4959). Delfina Entrecanales (1927-2022) was a Spanish-British arts philanthropist and patron. Born to a southern Spanish family, she moved to England at the end of the Spanish civil war. She was the founder and director of the Delfina Foundation, an important not-for-profit arts foundation which supported, and continues to support, artists through residency programmes and exhibition space in London.