ERRINGTON, B.C., LOOKING EAST TO THE MAINLAND, 1/82
acrylic on canvas
34.5 x 55.25 in. (87.6 x 140.3 cm)
Price Realized:
40950.00 CAD.
INCLUDES BUYER’S PREMIUM
Notes:
signed lower right; signed, titled & dated verso
Born in Prince Rupert, BC, Takao Tanabe, the son of a commercial fisherman, spent his summers at fishing camps along the Skeena River. After a period of internment as a “Japanese alien” during WWII, Tanabe began his artistic training with Joseph Plaskett in 1946, attending the Winnipeg School of Art from 1946 to1949. Subsequently, he continued his studies at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, New York (1951-52); The Banff School of Fine Arts (1953); the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London (1953); and the Tokyo University of Arts (1959-61).
Takao Tanabe is one of Canada’s most important contemporary landscape painters, with an exhibition history now in its seventh decade, and a distinguished career as an arts educator and advocate. Tanabe was involved with the Banff School of Fine Arts (now the Banff Centre) from 1973-1980, where he headed the Art Department and was an artist-in-residence, bringing a new vitality and vision to the program. He moved to Vancouver Island in 1980. He is a member of the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia, and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He has received numerous awards for his work which can be found in many public collections including the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa); Vancouver Art Gallery; Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; Art Gallery of Ontario; Glenbow Museum (Calgary); McMaster Museum of Art (Hamilton); and Tate Museum (U.K.). In 2005, a national touring retrospective of Takao Tanabe’s work was organized jointly by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Over the course of his career, Tanabe evolved from an abstract painter to a landscape painter in a minimalist style that is uniquely his own – stripping away non-essential details and creating serene compositions that reward long, contemplative viewing. His works are appreciated for their transcendent light and atmosphere, with images that fluctuate from delicate and misty to stormy and brooding.
Takao Tanabe comments on his work (as cited by Roger Boulet on p. 13 of the exhibition catalogue “Takao Tanabe: Wet Coasts and Dry Lands”; Kelowna Art Gallery; 2000):
“…the views I favour are the grey mists, the rain-obscured islands and the clouds that hide the details. However much we desire order and clarity in all the details of our lives, there are always unexpected events that cloud and change our course. Life is ragged. The typical weather of the coast is like that, just enough detail to make it interesting but not so clear as to be banal or overwhelming. It can be a metaphor for life.”