Canadian [b. 1926]
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
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, developing a minimalist style that is uniquely his own. A Tanabe landscape strips away non-essential details, 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.
In a 2014 interview, published in the National Gallery of Canada Magazine, Tanabe explains:
I decide to paint a landscape and I am a Minimalist type of painter. But I avoid the manmade stuff which is the railway lines, the telephone poles, the grain elevators and cows. I didn’t put in any cows. So essentially, it’s stripped down human intervention to the basic, which is kind of just patterning the landscape……..It might be my old age. But the whole idea is Mother Nature, not human intervention, that I see and try to paint.
ERRINGTON, B.C., LOOKING EAST TO THE MAINLAND, 1/82; 1982
acrylic on canvas
34.5 x 55.25 in.
Sold for $ 40,950 – November 2018
THE LAND, BANFF SERIES; 1973
acrylic on canvas
42 x 84 in.
Sold for $ 29,250 – May 2018
AUTUMN FOOTHILLS; 1979
acrylic on canvas
33.5 x 55 in.
Sold for $ 21,060 – November 2014
BANFF, THE LAND B-75
acrylic on canvas
26 x 44 in.
Sold for $ 14,950 – November 2012
ALBERTA FOOTHILLS 3/80 A DISTANT VIEW; 1980
acrylic on canvas
55 x 72 in.
Sold for $ 12,870 – May 2017
LOW TIDE/RATHTREVOR; 1990
colour woodcut on paper; ed. #31/50
15 x 24.75 in.
Sold for $ 4,095 – June 2017
We are always seeking works by Takao Tanabe to be included in future auctions.
If you are interested in selling with us, or wish to get our opinion of the value of your artworks, please contact us for an appointment to evaluate your artwork for auction.
Alternately, you can easily submit details of your artworks through our Request of Auction Estimates form.
Artist: Takao Tanabe
Title: THE LAND 2/80
Date: 1980
Medium: acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 28 x 43 in. (71.1 x 109.2 cm)
Notes:
signed lower right; signed, titled and dated verso
Provenance: Estate of Carolyn Tavender, Calgary AB, by descent to family
Born in the small fishing village of Seal Cove, British Columbia, Takao Tanabe’s decades-long distinguished career has established him as one of Canada’s most important contemporary painters. He was one of seven children born to Japanese immigrants. His father operated a commercial fishing boat and his mother worked in the local cannery, before the family moved to Vancouver in 1937. In 1942, at the height of World War II tensions, the Tanabe family was interned, along with 22,000 Japanese-Canadians. Following the war, Takao Tanabe spent several years as an indentured labourer before applying (and being accepted) to the Winnipeg School of Art, from which he graduated in 1949. He continued his studies at the Brooklyn School of Art (New York); Central School of Arts and Crafts (London); and later studied Sumi-e and calligraphy at Tokyo University.
Takao Tanabe began experimenting with abstraction early in his art education (inspired by instructors Joseph Plaskett and Hans Hofmann). During the 1950s and 1960s, his work progressed through various forms of abstraction, and he began to achieve financial and critical success. In 1971, while living in New York, Tanabe was invited to teach at the Banff School of Fine Arts, as a summer instructor. In 1973, he became head of the Art Department and Artist-in-Residence. He remained at The Banff School of Fine Arts until 1980, when he moved to Vancouver Island. During his Banff decade, Takao Tanabe focused intently on the prairie landscape, the vastness of which he experienced during his road trip there from New York. He began his celebrated series of minimalist prairie landscapes, now recognized as one of his most significant bodies of work.
“The Land”, painted in 1980, is a quintessential example of Tanabe’s prairie scenes. The artist strips away non-essential details to create a serene composition that rewards prolonged, contemplative viewing.
“I am a Minimalist type of painter,” he noted in 2014. “But I avoid the manmade stuff, which is the railway lines, the telephone poles, the grain elevators, and cows… It’s stripped-down human intervention to the basic.”
LOT: 111
Auction: 2025 June | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Takao Tanabe
Title: GO LEFT TO REACH THE FIELDS
Date: 1965
Medium: collage & co-polymer on board
Dimensions: 16 x 16 in.
LOT: 50
Auction: 2005 November | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Takao Tanabe
Title: BEACH SCENE
Date: 1959
Medium: caesin on paper
Dimensions: 10 x 22 in.
LOT: 385
Auction: 2005 November | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Takao Tanabe
Title: THE LAND: AUTUMN
Date: 1974
Medium: colour lithograph on paper; ed. #11/75
Dimensions: 14.5 x 22.75 in. (36.8 x 57.8 cm)
Notes:
signed, dated & editioned
Provenance: Marlborough Godard Gallery, Toronto/Montreal
LOT: 388
Auction: 2008 June | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Takao Tanabe
Title: PLOWED FIELDS
Date: 1976
Medium: lithograph on paper; ed. #16/40
Dimensions: 9 x 15 in. (22.9 x 38.1 cm)
Notes:
signed, titled, dated & editioned
Provenance: Estate of Evelyn Fisher, Calgary; Marlbourough-Godard Gallery, Toronto
LOT: 1002
Auction: 2010 June Online | Hodgins Art Auctions
Artist: Takao Tanabe
Title: PRAIRIE LANDSCAPE
Medium: colour lithograph on paper; ed. #73/75
Dimensions: 18.75 x 16 in. (47.6 x 40.6 cm)
Notes:
signed & editioned
LOT: 202
Auction: 2012 May | Hodgins Art Auctions
Since 1983, Hodgins Art Auctions is your trusted source for buying and selling art by Takao Tanabe and other important Canadian artists.
We are always accepting consignments of quality Canadian & International art.
At Hodgins you will always be dealing with a knowledgeable partner in the company. We provide responsive and efficient service, transparency, and are committed to your satisfaction.