"At The Crease"
by Canadian Artist, Ken Danby 1940-2007
I will always remember that an enormous print of this painting graced a wall in my small-town Ontario junior public school... The only other major work of art (that was not done by students) was a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II! You can guess which image we Canadian kids preferred to look at...
Mr. Danby passed away on Sunday at the age of 67, while canoeing in Algonquin Park. He was an enormous part of Canadian culture, and will be terribly missed.
"My paintings explore my first-hand experiences.
Yet, what you see is not simply what I saw...
but how I want you to see it."
--Ken Danby
5 comments:
how very canadian, or at least what we americans think of as canadian, that the school art was of hockey and the queen.
It looks like a photograph. Quite amazing!
Hey ?!?!
I had forgotten about that painting ... right at the bottom of the north end stairs, right ???
At the entrance way on the way out to Brunswick St ... I wonder where it went when they tore the old gal down ...
I always thought it looked like Tony Esposito ... others say it looks like Ken Dryden ... it was/is beautiful and a true Canadian Icon ...
The Goal keeper looks a little sinister with the face mask.
He died far too young, but on the other hand, what a lovely way to go - out on a lake canoeing.....
Mrinz--
You are so right-- I always thought he looked a little like Freddy Kruger, myself!! But, the technique of the artist-- the realism and the minute brush strokes he used-- always fascinated me, and by far outweighed the potentially scary side!!
And yes, what a lovely way to go... although, not for his poor family. I said to my husband, "So, Algonquin Park has claimed another one of our great artists... Ken Danby has gone to join Tom Thomson!!" The coincidence is just TOO uncanny for me... Hopefully Ken's passing was considerably more peaceful than Mr. Thomson's might have been...
CGF xo
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