Porto

In 1881 Joaquin Sorolla was about 18 and still training in Valencia, years before the sunstruck beach scenes that made his name. This small harbour view, barely 78 centimetres across, belongs to that apprenticeship. Its muted greys and blues follow the sober academic tradition of Spanish marine painting, a manner he picked up partly from Rafael Monleon, a Valencian sailor turned painter who specialised in ships and water. The warmer browns of the moored boats catch what little light there is. It hangs today in the Sorolla Museum in Madrid, the artist's own former house.