Takao Tanabe, one of Canada's leading painters and printmakers, evolved from an abstract artist into a landscapist. In his landscapes he eliminates non-essential details, creating serene compositions which reward long contemplation. A distinguished art teacher and arts advocate, Tanabe was long associated with the Banff School of Fine Arts, Alberta. Tanabe trained from 1946 with Joseph Plaskett at the Winnipeg School of Art, Manitoba, then attended the University of Manitoba. In 1951-52 Tanabe studied at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, New York, under Hans Hoffman and Reuben Tam. He took a class in 1953 at Banff with the British painter William Scott. Back in Vancouver, Tanabe learned typography working for Robert R. Reid and founded Periwinkle Press. After briefly attending Banff School of Fine Arts, Alberta, he traveled Europe for two years, studying at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, in 1953. Tanabe learned Japanese ink painting (sumi-e) and calligraphy at the Tokyo University of Arts in 1959-61. He studied with Ikuo Hirayama and Yanagida Taiun, a practitioner of single-stroke Zen calligraphy on a large scale. Tanabe has also admired the quietly powerful art of Caspar David Friedrich and Albert Bierstadt. The son of a commercial fisherman, Tanabe Tanabe summered in fishing camps on the Skeena River, B.C. He was interned as a Japanese alien during World War II. Tanabe's abstract paintings of the 1950s (Interior Arrangement with Red Hills, 1957) were succeeded in the early 1960s by Japanese-influenced ink drawings (Falling Water, 1967). From 1961 to 1968, Tanabe taught at the Vancouver Art School, painting murals. In 1968 he worked in Philadelphia, moving in 1969 to New York City. Based there until 1972, he painted hard-edge geometric abstracts in strong colours (Untitled No. 4, 1968). These evolved in the 1970s into semi-abstract landscapes dominated by wide horizons, influenced by Tanabe's encounters with northern Pennsylvania, the Hudson River Valley, and the Canadian praire and foothills. From 1973, Tanabe headed the Art Department and was Artist-in-Residence at Banff School of Fine Arts. He moved to Vancouver Island in 1980. Tanabe's quiet, light-bathed landscapes capture the essence of time and place. He has exhibited since 1950, earning an international reputation.

Fairs

Art Toronto
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
October 29 - November 1, 2026
Booth 100
Art Toronto

Public Collections

Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Art Gallery of Hamilton
Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
Art Gallery of Ontario
Art Gallery of Windsor
Burnaby Art Gallery
Canada Council, Ottawa
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Confederation Centre and Art Gallery, Charlottetown
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton
Glenbow Museum, Calgary
Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener
Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops
Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna
Laurentian Museum, Sudbury
London Art Gallery, London, ON
MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina
Musee d'art Contemporain, Montreal
National Gallery of Canada
Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa
Peter Whyte Gallery, Banff
Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa
Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey BC
Vancouver Art Gallery
Winnipeg Art Gallery
The Banff Centre, Banff
Carleton University, Ottawa
Concordia University, Sir George Williams Galleries, Montreal
Dalhousie University, Halifax
Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Memorial University, St. John's
Mt. Allison University, Owens Gallery, Sackville, NB
Queen's University, Agnes Etherington Gallery, Kingston
Red Deer College, Red Deer, Alberta
Scotiabank
Seneca College, Toronto
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby
Tate Museum, UK
University of Alberta, Edmonton
University of British Columbia
University of Calgary
University of Guelph
University of Lethbridge
University of New Brunswick
University of Toronto, Hart House
University of Regina
University of Victoria
University of Western Ontario, London
Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, San Francisco
Alberta Art Foundation, Edmonton
Alberta House Collection, London, England
British Columbia Provincial Collection, Victoria
CBC Vancouver
Dept. of External Affairs, Ottawa
Dept. of Public Works, Ministry of Agriculture, Ottawa
Dept. of Trade and Commerce, Exhibition Commission, Ottawa
Province of Manitoba Collection, Winnipeg
Winnipeg Centennial Library