Ken Danby - Life and Work

Life and Work

Ken Danby enrolled at the Ontario College of Art in 1958. His first exhibition in 1964 sold out.

Danby is best known for creating highly realistic paintings that study everyday life. His At the Crease (1972) is an iconic and widely reproduced work in Canada, portraying a masked hockey goalie defending his net.

In 1975, Danby was elected a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He has also been a recipient of the Jessie Dow Prize, the 125th Anniversary Commemorative Medal of Canada, the City of Sault Ste. Marie's Award of Merit and both the Queen's Silver and Golden Jubilee Medals.

In the 1980s he prepared a series of watercolours about the Americas Cup and the Canadian athletes at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. Danby has served on the governing board of the Canada Council and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Canada.

In 1997, Danby received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. In 2001, he was vested in both the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada.

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