Emigrant Ship Leaving Belfast (1852). Wilson, James Glen 1827-1863. This painting, by a young artist from County Down, shows a departing ship, probably bound for America, being towed down the Victoria Channel in Belfast harbour, towards the open sea. As a work of art the picture reveals Wilson?s mastery of natural elements like sea and sky and his eye for genre detail, such as the grief stricken families on the quayside, waving their loved ones off to far-away shores.