The Departure

In Adrien Hébert's Departure, one of his first works on the thème of the Montréal harbour, there is still a great deal of space devoted to natural éléments like the water, sky and coloured reflections. But the smoke that blackens the sky already indicates the prédominance of industry. The composition places the ships on the right outside the frame, associating the painter's eye to that of the contemporary photographer, who decentralizes the images and crops the motifs.