La Huerta, Pollença, Mallorca

Almond trees burst into pale pink and lavender bloom across this Mallorcan orchard, painted by the Catalan artist Hermenegildo Anglada-Camarasa near the town of Pollença. The mountains behind them rise in heavy layers of blue and purple, so thickly loaded with paint that they look almost carved rather than brushed. A low stone wall runs across the front of the scene, broken by a modest wooden gate, while a strip of bright green meadow separates the flowering trees from the rocky slopes above. Every part of the surface shows the artist's love of texture, with color piled on in chunky, deliberate dabs.

Anglada-Camarasa settled in Pollença in 1914 and grew so attached to the region that he stayed for much of the rest of his life. Paintings like this one help explain the pull the place had on him, capturing the calm and simple beauty of country life on the island. Rather than reaching for high drama, the work keeps things gentle and honest, letting the shifting light and the warm colors of the almond blossom do the talking. It is a quiet celebration of a landscape the artist clearly cared about deeply.