Fisherman's Cove (Laguna)

A native of Chicago, Arthur Grover Rider received his formal artistic training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago, and in France at the Academies de la Grande Chaumiere and Colarossi. From there he traveled to Spain, where he was deeply struck by the brilliant sun-lit landscape and colorful coastal vistas. Rider later spent nine summers in Spain, where he painted with the famous Joaquin Sorolla, who had tremendous impact on his work by influencing him to open up his compositions and drench his paintings with warm sunlight. Rider moved to Los Angeles in 1924 and lived and worked near Laguna Beach throughout the 1930's. Fisherman's Cove, completed in 1930, is a powerful work painted near the artist's Laguna home. Rider's influence from Sorolla can be seen in the rich color palette used in the beach and sea and the strong sun setting in the cove. The late afternoon sunlight illuminates the small boathouse and the rowboats, reflecting onto the figures on the beach, where a young woman holds up her hand to shade it from her eyes.