Ly Tan Man — Departure, No. 1 (from the “Exodus” Diptych)| Oil on Canvas | 36 x 24 in | Signed and dated lower left

In Departure, No. 1, Ly Tan Man delivers a stark, haunting perspective from within the vessel of exile itself. This first panel of a two-part series captures the pivotal moment of escape—rendered through the artist’s eyes as a member of the “boat people” fleeing postwar Vietnam.

A single, crimson boat—textured and raw—floats adrift in a vast expanse of cerulean sea. Above, a sliver of shoreline fades into the horizon, barely visible beneath layers of green and sky. The minimalist composition is deceiving in its emotional weight; the emptiness around the boat amplifies the silence, the uncertainty, and the severance from home.

This work is a powerful visual memoir—restrained, yet devastating. Ideal for collectors attuned to historical narratives and emotionally charged abstraction, Departure, No. 1 is both a statement piece and a vessel of remembrance. Its companion, viewed together, completes the emotional arc—this one, however, is the breath before the unknown.