The Sphinx of Roscoff

Produced in 1910 by Josep Nogué Massó (Santa Coloma de Queralt, Catalunya, 1880 - Huelva, Andalusia, 1973), originally made up of three panels, today the left hand panel is missing.

This is the panorama of the craggy coastline of Brittany, specifically the town of Roscoff, with a cliff known for its similar natural morphology with the Sphinx of Gizeh. Nogué was able to transfer to canvas with admirable success, the misty atmosphere and the restless sea, creating a romantic and melancholic vision of this unique enclave on the French Atlantic coast.

One of the characteristics of this work is the treatment the artist gives to the painting, configuring the surface of the sky using the technique of divisionism (a technique of applying small blotches of colour which, observed from a distance, give the sensation of a whole), common among the neo-impressionists Nogué would have met passing through Paris on his way to Brittany.  

The pictorial research of Josep Nogué, motivated by studying light, would become a constant that defined the evolution of his work. The author used this technique to improve the representation of spaces illuminated directly by a source within the work.

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