Intimidator

This painting was commissioned by David Anderson for the grand opening of the David Anderson Gallery in Buffalo, NY. David Anderson was the son of Martha Jackson, owner of the Martha Jackson Gallery in New York City, who represented the artwork of Clayton Pond starting in 1966. The subject of this 3-D construction is the Buffalo Sabres Hockey team goalie, Daren Puppa, playing during their 20th Anniversary season. To Pond, the goalie is the most intimidating player on the ice, the most impressive warrior in a game of speed, grace and danger. In an article about the painting in the team’s magazine, the Sabre, the writer Bob Bertholf quoted the artist: “The goalie in appearance is a cross between a medieval knight with his armor and a Samurai warrior. I made the piece larger than life size, so that the goalie seemed even bigger and more threatening than he probably does in real life. He is ‘The Intimidator’. ” Behind a Plexiglas panel is a crowd scene in the bleachers going wild. This illustrates the artist’s humorous take on the intense involvement of spectators during a hockey game. For the crowd scene the artist chose to paint in a few friends and family members. The man in the blue shirt in the upper right-hand corner of the painting is the artist; the young boy under his arm is the artist’s son; the man in the red shirt and green tie is David Anderson; the man in the brown shirt that says Gavin is the artist’s brother-in-law who was instrumental in the fabrication of the painting construction pieces; and the man to his left wearing glasses is Robert Bertholf, a former faculty member of the University of Buffalo and the former curator of The Poetry Collection at the University of Buffalo.