Playa Port Alguer from Riba d'en Pitxot, 1918 by Salvador Dali

Playa Port Alguer from Riba d'en Pitxot, 1918 by Salvador Dali
Playa Port Alguer from Riba d'en Pitxot, 1918 by Salvador Dali

Recalling Claude Monet's views of Rouen Cathedral painted at different times of day and under different atmospheric conditions, Playa Port Alguerfrom Riba d'En Pitxot, like a second, identical view of the same year, depicts the church of Cadaques shrouded in mist. The scene is viewed from a small road on the western edge of Cadaques known as the Riba d'En Pitxot, which follows the shoreline and passes under a house with an open loggia of three arches. Port Alguer is located at the foot of the small hill on which stands the church of Cadaques. The fishing boats that are normally anchored in this picturesque port have all but disappeared beneath the towering silhouette of the church, whose mass is dissolved by the brilliant spectacle of light and color. Using a palette of lilacs, greens, and blues, with touches of white, Dali captures the effects of morning light refracting off the moist air of the sea.