Kimono
152.4 cms x 223.5 cms (60 ins x 88 ins)
Signed and dated 1987 - 1988
made in 1987
Lot offered for sale by Heffel, Vancouver at the auction event "Spring 2014 Live auction" held on Wed, May 28, 2014.
Lot 016
Lot 016
Estimate: CAD $70,000 - $90,000
Realised: CAD $118,000
Realised: CAD $118,000
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
Acquired directly from the Artist by the present Private Collector, Hong Kong
Exhibitions:
Gallery Moos Ltd., New York, Ken Danby: New Oil Paintings, April 6 - May 4, 1989
Literature:
Paul Duval, Ken Danby, 1976, page 175
Ken Danby: New Oil Paintings, Gallery Moos Ltd., 1989, reproduced, unpaginated
Notes:
Ken Danby is one of Canada's foremost Realist painters. Danby grew up in Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario and initially took studies in architecture at Sault Collegiate. He then studied art at the Ontario College of Art, where painter Jock Macdonald was a valued influence. In 1965 Danby established his home and studio in Guelph, on the site of an old mill.
The early 1970s were a time of emergence for Danby, and his mastery of the challenging medium of egg tempera was manifested in strong works such as Pancho (1973), a penetrating portrait of his neighbour. Danby also became well known for sporting images, such as his 1972 painting The Crease, of an eerily masked hockey goalkeeper, and paintings of yachts competing for the America's Cup in Rhode Island. In 1972 and 1973, he had success in the United States, with one-man exhibitions at the William Zierler Gallery in New York and the acquisition of his 1971 work Early Autumn by the Museum of Modern Art.
Regarding his classification as a Realist painter, Danby stated, "While I acknowledge that my work is considered to be relevant to the various 'realisms,' I am not consciously attempting to work within any school of art, nor any particular genre of painting, be it termed 'magic realism,' 'high realism,' [or] 'super realism.'" Danby used photographs to gather visual information and to assist in the placement of elements in his composition, and his cool, objective view of his subject seems entirely in sync with this medium. But when viewed up close, the work clearly shows the painterly articulation of the elements.
Danby often included people in his work - usually a single figure, whether in the landscape or indoors. His figures, immersed in their normal everyday activities or in quiet reflection, are always natural and unselfconscious. For the most part, as in Kimono, Danby's figures do not face the viewer, emphasizing their interaction with their environment and their private, reflective experience. The subject of this stunning painting, set at Kuta Beach on the island of Bali in Indonesia, is Danby's wife Gillian, often a model in his paintings. Clothed in a graceful kimono decorated with bamboo (which grows throughout Bali), she pauses, examining what is likely a shell. Danby did a number of large-scale beachscapes in this exotic setting. He found this lush, tropical island, known for its vibrant traditions of both Hindu and pagan spiritualism, intriguing.
Kimono is a tour de force of Danby's technical virtuosity. His realist depiction of this scene shows an exquisite awareness of light and the translucence of water in the delicate reflections in wet sand, foam on wave crests and thin layers of water swirling over the beach. Viewers easily slip into the feeling that they are there - imagining the tactile sensations of warm sun, of bare feet on wet sand, and the anticipation of the outer edge of a gentle wave of cooling, salty water about to lap over their feet. The large scale of this work also contributes to the feeling that the viewer could enter into the scene. The impact of the painting is immediately tranquil and inspiring. In this transitory moment on a tropical beach, Danby captures a transcendent mood through his acute awareness of space and light, and his subject's harmonious experience with nature.
Acquired directly from the Artist by the present Private Collector, Hong Kong
Exhibitions:
Gallery Moos Ltd., New York, Ken Danby: New Oil Paintings, April 6 - May 4, 1989
Literature:
Paul Duval, Ken Danby, 1976, page 175
Ken Danby: New Oil Paintings, Gallery Moos Ltd., 1989, reproduced, unpaginated
Notes:
Ken Danby is one of Canada's foremost Realist painters. Danby grew up in Sault Ste. Marie in Ontario and initially took studies in architecture at Sault Collegiate. He then studied art at the Ontario College of Art, where painter Jock Macdonald was a valued influence. In 1965 Danby established his home and studio in Guelph, on the site of an old mill.
The early 1970s were a time of emergence for Danby, and his mastery of the challenging medium of egg tempera was manifested in strong works such as Pancho (1973), a penetrating portrait of his neighbour. Danby also became well known for sporting images, such as his 1972 painting The Crease, of an eerily masked hockey goalkeeper, and paintings of yachts competing for the America's Cup in Rhode Island. In 1972 and 1973, he had success in the United States, with one-man exhibitions at the William Zierler Gallery in New York and the acquisition of his 1971 work Early Autumn by the Museum of Modern Art.
Regarding his classification as a Realist painter, Danby stated, "While I acknowledge that my work is considered to be relevant to the various 'realisms,' I am not consciously attempting to work within any school of art, nor any particular genre of painting, be it termed 'magic realism,' 'high realism,' [or] 'super realism.'" Danby used photographs to gather visual information and to assist in the placement of elements in his composition, and his cool, objective view of his subject seems entirely in sync with this medium. But when viewed up close, the work clearly shows the painterly articulation of the elements.
Danby often included people in his work - usually a single figure, whether in the landscape or indoors. His figures, immersed in their normal everyday activities or in quiet reflection, are always natural and unselfconscious. For the most part, as in Kimono, Danby's figures do not face the viewer, emphasizing their interaction with their environment and their private, reflective experience. The subject of this stunning painting, set at Kuta Beach on the island of Bali in Indonesia, is Danby's wife Gillian, often a model in his paintings. Clothed in a graceful kimono decorated with bamboo (which grows throughout Bali), she pauses, examining what is likely a shell. Danby did a number of large-scale beachscapes in this exotic setting. He found this lush, tropical island, known for its vibrant traditions of both Hindu and pagan spiritualism, intriguing.
Kimono is a tour de force of Danby's technical virtuosity. His realist depiction of this scene shows an exquisite awareness of light and the translucence of water in the delicate reflections in wet sand, foam on wave crests and thin layers of water swirling over the beach. Viewers easily slip into the feeling that they are there - imagining the tactile sensations of warm sun, of bare feet on wet sand, and the anticipation of the outer edge of a gentle wave of cooling, salty water about to lap over their feet. The large scale of this work also contributes to the feeling that the viewer could enter into the scene. The impact of the painting is immediately tranquil and inspiring. In this transitory moment on a tropical beach, Danby captures a transcendent mood through his acute awareness of space and light, and his subject's harmonious experience with nature.
Most realised prices include the Buyer's Premium of 18-25%, but not the HST/GST Tax.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.