Lot 173: Adrien Hébert 1890 - 1967 Canadian oil on canvas Stevedores Unloading a Ship, Montreal Harbour

Adrien Hébert 1890 - 1967 Canadian oil on canvas Stevedores Unloading a Ship, Montreal Harbour
31 1/8 x 24 1/8 inches 79 x 61.3 centimeters signed and on verso titled and dated circa 1925 on the gallery label
Provenance:Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc. Montreal
Private Collection, Montreal Exhibited:Galerie Walter Klinkhoff, Montreal, Hommage à Adrien Hébert, September 1984 Adrien Hébert was the son of the well-known sculptor Louis-Philippe Hébert. He studied under William Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal and in Paris, where his interest in ships first developed. He spent considerable time on the banks of the Seine River watching boat traffic while a truant from his classes with painter Fernand Cormon! Hébert returned to Montreal in 1914, and in 1924 began to paint the Port of Montreal. He loved the vitality and drama of the harbour - its liners, tugs, elevators, cranes and trains. This bold painting is an outstanding example of this subject, with its imposing sense of volume in the structures and dramatic perspectives of the dock buildings seen from below and the ship looming in the background. Just as important is the human scale of the dockworkers with their labours and interactions, foreshadowing the social realism that would become prominent in the 1930s. Hébert's work was well-recognized by museums - a painting exhibited at London's Tate Gallery in 1938 was acquired by the National Gallery of Canada in 1939.