DANBY PORTRAIT - GRETZKY GOLD EMBOSSED AUTO LE * * * FREE INSURED GROUND SHIPPING * * * Start Price USD 695.00 Current Price USD 695.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, October 14, 2008 End Time Friday, October 17, 2008 Location Calgary, Alberta See more about 'DANBY PORTRAIT - GRETZKY GOLD EMBOSSED AUTO LE' Description This auction is for an impressive piece from world-renowned artist Ken Danby.   Titled “THE GREAT FAREWELL” to tie in with Gretzky’s Last Game as a player in the NHL, this Danby collectible has Wayne Gretzky’s autograph embossed in GOLD.  This is a limited edition lithograph # 2136/ 9999.  Read on about how this is more than a portrait of the “The Great One”!    The lithograph alone measures 54 x 45 in / 137.2 x 114.3 cm by Ken Danby - Mathematics, Astronomy and Curious Coincidences.  With guidance from an astronomy computer program and a physics professor, Ken Danby has placed Wayne Gretzky's farewell image into a beautiful and accurate night sky just seconds before he left the ice forever as an NHL player. To be precise, the artist says, "The sky is shown as it was at 6:12 pm April 18, 1999, but as if viewed from a position in front of Wayne, on the ice of Madison Square Garden."   While creating Wayne's portrait, Ken Danby continually discovered intriguing symbolism and alignments between sky maps and his painting, as well as repeated occurrences of numbers 9 and 99 -- so much so that he was led to create a book to document the process. The Great Farewell book is the perfect provenance for your print and a valuable collector's item itself. It includes a foreword by Wayne, photos of Wayne signing and at the unveiling, an illustrated background essay by Chandler Kirwin (professor of art history), a chapter on the "curious coincidences" mentioned above, plus all 24 studies that led to the final painting and the artist's commentary on each one. THIS MUST HAVE PIECE INCLUDES "THE GREAT FAREWELL" BOOK.  The story and making of the Official Wayne Gretzky Retirement Portrait is told by Ken Danby in this 64 page full-color book. This book is only available with the purchase of The Great Farewell print, and is a valuable collector's item.   The Great Artist Ken Danby passed away while canoeing in Algonquin Park in Central Ontario on Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 at 67 years young.  A fitting place for him to pass but sadly much too young.  This piece instantly becomes a rare find given this unfortunate tragic event.   Don't miss out on your chance to own this rare collectible...   This incredible piece was professionally framed with conservation glass by an upscale picture/framing store in Calgary, Alberta.  Framing alone has a retail value of $595 !!!!   About Me: I am a private collector and not a dealer.  I’ve accumulated way too much authentic hockey memorabilia over the years and have started to reduce the size of my collection.  To help me with this, I have started to consign items through SIMCOE SHORES SPORTS eBay store to take advantage of their client base.  Please take a moment and browse through their store through this link:   http://stores.ebay.com/SIMCOE-SHORES-SPORTS   Please email me if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer them.  If you want additional pictures, please be sure to include your email address since eBay’s message system doesn’t allow for sending of attachments.   Shipping: As a bonus, I am offering FREE insured ground shipping within Canada and to our neighbors in the USA.   The Fine Print:  Payment is due within 7 Business Days.  PayPal, Certified Check, Bank Draft. NO MONEY ORDERS OF ANY KIND as these will be returned.  Item will be shipped upon receipt of payment.   I cannot be responsible once items are sent but will assist you in dealing with Canada Post in anyway I can.  Bids will not be honoured with those with a negative feedback rating.  PLEASE! Read the description carefully as all sales are final and sold as is.  Email your questions prior to auction close.  I will be happy to answer them.  Bid with confidence as I have 100% positive feedback.   Thank you for your interest and good luck bidding. Place a Bid!