Catalonia, the region in north-eastern Spain where Salvador Dalí spent his formative childhood and adolescent years, is a land of both exquisite beauty and harsh austerity. The seemingly bizarre and fantastical rock formations and sweeping landscape vistas that frame so many of Dalí’s classic and celebrated Surrealist paintings are, in fact, faithful representations of the rugged and breathtaking terribilità of the local Catalan landscapes that inspired and nourished the artist throughout his life – the majestic Empordà Plain and the rocks and waves at Cadaqués, Portlligat and the Cap de Creus. Over centuries, this arid coastline etched with little creeks has been pummelled by violent storms that lash the sea against the rocks, carving out geological structures suggestive of animals or human forms.