Adrien Hébert: An Artist's View of Montreal Harbour

April 11 to July 27, 1997

An expanded version of the travelling exhibition Adrien Hébert: An Artist's View of Montreal Harbour was presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from April 11 to September 7, 1997. Organized by the Museum, this exhibition toured the Montreal Urban Community with the Arts Council's "Exposer dans l'île" programme.

Starting in 1924, when many other Quebec artists were concerned with rural tradition, Montreal harbour -- the very embodiment of urban modernity -- became one of the favourite themes of painter Adrien Hébert (1890-1967). According to the exhibition's Guest Curator Esther Trépanier, "In the history of Quebec art, Adrien Hébert exemplifies above all the artist who painted the city and harbour of Montreal." Indeed, the twenty-nine drawings and paintings on display reveal his fascination for the harbour's docks, grain elevators, winches and cranes, the great ocean-going steamers at their moorings.

This presentation of the exhibition featured additional works from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' permanent collection, the corporate collections of Power Corporation of Canada and the Port of Montreal and five Canadian museum collections: Concordia University, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Musée d'art de Joliette, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Musée du Québec and the Musée de la civilisation.

The exhibition Adrien Hébert: An Artist's View of Montreal Harbour was presented at the Frontenac, Mercier and Dorval Cultural Centres, the Galerie Les Trois C at the Henri-Lemieux Cultural Centre in LaSalle, the Musée de la Ville de Lachine and the Centre d'histoire de Montréal. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was the last stop on the circuit. Rosalind Pepall, the Museum's Curator of Canadian Art, was in charge of this presentation of the exhibition. Admission was free.