Danby , Ken – Day Study for Devil's Chair – Odon Wagner Gallery and Odon Wagner Contemporary

PRICE CODES
(Canadian dollars)

    A: Up to $5,000
    B: $5,001- $10,000
    C: $10,001 - $20,000
    D: $20,001 - $30,000
    E: $30,001- $40,000
    F: $40,001 - $60,000
    G: $60,001 - $80,000
    H: Price available by contacting the gallery
    L: On loan - this is not for sale



	Danby , Ken - Biography

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Day Study for Devil's Chair

Watercolour, 14 x 22.5 inches, 35.6 x 57.2 cm

2002

Price Code C
Inventory #14974

signed and dated 'Danby 02' (lower right)

Devil's Chair is a geological anomaly rising out of the water in Lake Superior as a remnant of the primordial past. Its chair shape is unrecognizable until it is climbed, when the elevated vantage point makes the protruding arms visible. Its unusual shape and distinctive holes - created over centuries by the forces of nature - provide a perfect gun barrel sighting for the setting sun when facing due west across the lake. The Anishnabe (Ojibway) called it Nanabijou's Chair, and for them it is still a sacred sight, the place where their protector, the giant Nanabijou, rested after jumping over the lake!

My concept for the painting required the positioning of the sun behind the rock formation, which would therefore be enveloped in dark shadow. While this was the effect i was after, I knew that if I wanted to understand the structure of the chair and depict it with credibility, I'd have to create a study of it in daylight. This is it.

While it doesn't include the drama of the setting sun, it does emphasize the unique sculptured character of the sacred rock, which in itself is visually dynamic. This study allowed me to gain a good deal of familiarity with the peculiarities of Devil's Chair before tackling the painting.

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