Ken Danby

Kenneth Edison Danby was a master of contemporary Canadian realism. Raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Danby studied at the Ontario College of Art before settling at a historic mill near Guelph, where he painted using the demanding historical medium of egg tempera.

In 1972, Danby painted At the Crease, depicting a masked hockey goaltender poised intently on the ice. The image became a national touchstone, reproduced in millions of prints, posters, and books. Danby created celebrated portraits of Terry Fox and Wayne Gretzky and died doing what he loved, canoeing in Algonquin Park with his sketchpad.