Joaquín Sorolla, painter of light and water

Hedgewitch has introduced to the Imaginary Garden with Real Toads, a Spanish impressionist who loved to paint sunlight and water. Joaquín Sorolla, although orphaned as a child, was raised by his maternal aunt and uncle, who recognized his talent and had him educated in art from the age of eight, starting at home in Spain and eventually in Italy.

Hedgewitch suggests a short ekphrasis type of poem, perhaps haiku or another of the short poetic forms, or invites us to choose free verse up to 100 words, and she has provided ten wonderful examples of Sorolla's art.
In my own research, I found many more, and was hard-pressed to choose among the many.

For instance, the painting which set Sorolla free from the necessity of portraiture and salon art is called Triste Herencia, or "Sad Inheritance", showing crippled children bathing in the sea under the watchful eye of a monk. It made the world aware of the effects of a polio epidemic, and aware of the artist at the same time.

Sad Inheritance, 1900

The artist's wife and daughters
in the garden, 1900,
showing how he enjoyed
the play of light and shade.

Walk on the Beach, 1909.
The bright light at seaside was always one of Sorolla's favorites.

My own favorites, however, are the ones below, both of them showing mothers with infants. The tenderness of a happily married artist, with children of his own, is, to me, unmistakable in these two studies of maternal warmth.

sleeping child

watchful mother

smiling to herself

no bliss could be

as much to me

as seeing thee

thyself

I'll just
hold you,
shall I?
Before I
put you 
down.
You might
need a
mother's touch
before dawn.

Kay Davies, April, 2012, Day 14 of the Real Toads poem-a-day challenge for April