Sitges c. 19th century

Juan Roig y Soler's ‘Sitges’ captures a coastal scene with oil on canvas, presenting a view where the mundane aspects of daily life meet the sublime openness of the sea. The composition is structured around a play of horizontals and verticals. The buildings on the left provide a stark vertical contrast to the expansive horizontal line of the sea and sky. Soler's use of color is muted, dominated by earthy tones and softened blues, which evokes a sense of tranquility. The figures engaged in their work are rendered with loose brushstrokes, which imbues the scene with a sense of movement. Soler destabilizes traditional landscape painting by focusing not on untouched nature but on the intersection of human activity and the natural world. This challenges the viewer to reconsider the relationship between labor, leisure, and landscape.