Earth, Sky, and Water, 2002, Ken Danby--a master of both water and watercolor. It's a beautiful painting, but it's also quite typically Canadian. |
Although I write about artists from many different nations, it always seems to me that some countries contribute more than there share to my art musings while others I feel as if I'm slighting. Canadian artists, for instance, seem to be rather rare, while Polish, Russians, Dutch, French and British seem to pop up several times a month. I just did a quick and dirty survey using the search engine at the top of this page and came to realize it has been around six months since I wrote about a Canadian artist, and a year or more before that as to the next most recent. When choosing an artist, I look first at his or her work, then investigate their background, personalities, and art philosophies while all the time considering what in the way of a "hook" I might use in tying them into the present-day art scene. Canadian artist, Ken Danby died about six years ago; so he's not all that much a part of the past yet. But in that he's no longer living, he really can't be termed "contemporary." And, though I like his work immensely, there seems to be nothing much out of the ordinary in his biography. I can't think of a single thing about Ken Danby to use in grabbing the readers' attention.
At the Crease, 1972, Ken Danby |
Okay, it's a good example of Canadian art. Ice Hockey is something of an obsession in that country. To me, though, it seems somewhat fearfully ugly. Canadians would, no doubt, hardly notice. Heavily reproduced in Canada, the painting At the Crease (above) was the first to make Ken Danby famous. The artist tells an amusing anecdote regarding a print of this work:
“One day a woman complimented me on my painting, At the Crease, which she referred to as, `that painting you did of the goalie, Ken Dryden.’ She said that she had long had a print of it in her home and really enjoyed it. I thanked her, but also explained that, 'It isn’t an image of Ken Dryden.’ Looking puzzled she replied, 'Yes it is.’ I responded, 'No it isn’t.’ After a long pause, she loudly exclaimed, 'YES, IT IS!’ I quickly apologized, with the realization that she was right. It was really whoever she wanted it to be.”
On his own, Ken Danby switched from a reluctant Abstract Expressionist to an avid photorealist in just six years. |
Stampede, 2000, Ken Danby |
Danby might best be considered a genre painter--one who accentuates the quiet beauty and momentary pleasures of daily life. |
Hockey Night in Canada, Ken Danby |
Lake Superior Surf (above-top) was one of Danby's first college painting efforts. True North is a serigraph (silk screen) print using some thirty different colors, each printed separately. |
Although most famous for his connection to ice hockey, only about ten percent of Danby's art, over his entire lifetime, had to do with that sport. |
Ken Danby: Reflections from Claremont Media on Vimeo.
Wonderful Danby retrospective, including the video. Thank you, he was such a great guy and prodigious talent.
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