Tragically Hip tells Kingston artist to stop selling Gord Downie portrait

A local Kingston artist, known for his portrait of Gord Downie, says he has been told to stop his work in the name of copyright infringement.

It was an iconic moment in Canadian history: The Tragically Hip saying goodbye to fans. That moment inspired artist Shane Goudreau to paint a portrait of one of his idols, Gord Downie.

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Goudreau says it was the biggest event in his hometown’s history and he wanted to be able to create a beautiful piece of artwork while immersed in the crowd of over 25,000 people in Market Square.

“This was such a big deal to me.”

An image of the painting went viral with requests flooding in, Goudreau started selling them online until he says he received a call from the band’s management telling him to stop because they own the original image he based his portrait on.

It was a big hit, as the painting meant so much to him. Goudreau named the painting September 17, which was the day he completed it and is also a lyric to a Hip song that has deep meaning to him.

“The lyrics had to do with a mother that loses her son, and in that, I wanted to name it after that because my mother lost her son.”

Goudreau also lost his sister to cancer a short time before Downie announced he was battling the disease. He says this was never about making money.

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“This is not my intention, it was never from the beginning. (I wanted to) pay tribute to my sister who passed, pay tribute to Gord who is fighting a horrible battle.”

Goudreau says he is unsure if he’ll fight back against the request of the band. Global News reached out to the Hip for comment – but they have yet to respond.