Charles Conder
Charles Conder | 1868–1909 | Departure of the Orient – Circular Quay 1888 | Oil on canvas | 45.1 x 50.1cm | Purchased 1888 | Collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney | Photograph: Jenni Carter
Departure of the Orient – Circular Quay 1888
After arriving in Australia as an adolescent in 1884, Charles Conder (1868–1909) became one of the key founders of the Heidelberg School of Australian Impressionism with Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin and Arthur Streeton. Six years later he returned to Europe to become a legendary figure of the fin de siècle, mixing with leading artists and writers of the day including Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley.
Painted from the vantage point of an upstairs room at the First and Last Hotel, overlooking the bustling harbour and ferry berths at Circular Quay in Sydney Cove, Departure of the Orient – Circular Quay 1888 depicts the dockside scene at the moment when the Orient has just cast off for her voyage to England. Whilst the influence of James Abbott McNeill Whistler is seen in the grey tonality contrasted with touches of brilliant colour, Conder had also learned much from Italian expatriate artist Girolamo Nerli's depictions of contemporary urban scenes and rainy atmospheric conditions.
Regarded as his greatest Sydney painting, Departure of the Orient – Circular Quay 1888 was the culmination of Conder's new mastery of form and brushwork. Following the successful sale of this work to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Conder departed for Melbourne in October 1888 to join Roberts and the circle of painters there.
