The Prairies W by Takao Tanabe

Provenance:
Mira Godard Gallery, Toronto (1978)
Private Collection, Ontario

Literature:
Robin Laurence, “A Landscaper of Many Colours: Tak Tanabe in Profile”, Border Crossings, Volume 16, Number 1, February 1997, page 42

Tanabe was Head of the Art Department at the Banff School of Fine Arts from 1973 to 1980. During his tenure, he was painting dramatic semi-abstract landscapes. One of his favoured subjects were the foothills found at the edge of the prairies. In an interview for Border Crossings, Tanabe remarked on his attachment to the subject: “What I want is this completely unoccupied, pristine land, as though I'm the first person to see it. It's lonely, it's mysterious, it has wonderful appeal to me. I feel great kinship with it.” In “The Prairies W”, Tanabe illustrates this barren prairie landscape, completely void of human presence or industry. The calming blue and green bands of translucent acrylic, with a hint of yellow along the horizon, present a subject referencing landscape in its colour palette alone; the canvas hovers beautifully between the figurative and the abstract.