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Canadian artist Ken Danby dies while canoeing in Algonquin Park

Posted: October 3, 2007
Canadian artist Ken Danby dies while canoeing in Algonquin Park On Sunday, September 23, 2007 Ken Danby and his wife were canoeing canoeing on North Tea Lake in Algonquin Park, when he had an apparent heart attack. He was gathering colour reference information for his next series of paintings. Danby, known for his contemporary realist style received numerous awards including the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada. He served on numerous boards; including the governing board of the Canada Council and on the board of trustees of the National Gallery of Canada. Danby leaves his wife Gillian, three sons, a stepdaughter and stepson. He was 67 years old. Danby was one of Canada’s most loved artists for his depiction of Canadian life. His hyper realistic, iconic imagery captured the hearts of many a sports fan to the avid art connoisseur. His most famous painting “At the Crease” depicts a masked hockey goalie in a haunting crouch, awaiting his attacker in a warrior like stance. It was always thought that it was modeled after Montreal Canadians net minder, Ken Dryden, but Danby never revealed the goalies identity. He always said it was whoever you wanted it to be. At the crease sold over 100,000 lithographic prints and have been reproduced in magazines and articles since it was painted. This month the AGO in Toronto is displaying the original painting, loaned by its anonymous Toronto owner, until it closes for renovations in October. Andrew Wyeth, Danby's early artistic hero, saw the image in print some years after it was first exhibited at Gallery Moos. He later wrote the artist a letter saying, "I think your painting, At the Crease, a terrifying and exciting picture." Even though Danby was known for many sports portraits like Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, the unknown goalie and more, he always said he wasn’t a portrait artist – just a Canadian artist searching for the things that makes us distinctively Canadian. Danby continued to paint using egg tempera, he never stopped working with other types of media though. In his later years he started painting larger oils on canvas. He designed a set of Olympic coins; he painted a series of Olympic athletes in watercolour in the '80s, for the America's Cup and portraits of Canadian athletes for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. The critics were rarely kind, due to his realistic style and choice of imagery. Christopher Pratt said of Ken Danby, " you had to be a bit of a rebel if you were a representation painter", but Canada loved this artist. He will be sorely missed having passed away way too young, as with Tom Thompson. As Canadians, it makes what they left us ever more precious. More of Ken Danby’s work can be seen on his publisher’s web site. www.kendanby.ca A memorial service, a "Celebration of the Life of Ken Danby", will be held from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the River Run Centre, Guelph, Ontario on Wednesday, October 10, 2007. An endowment fund has been established to honour Ken's memory that will support arts education and charities important to him. Memorial donations can be directed to: The Ken Danby Legacy Fund c/o The Guelph Community Foundation PO Box 1311, Guelph, Ontario N1H 6N6 or online at www.guelphcf.ca