78/150: Celebrating A Century of Takao Tanake

The revered Canadian artist Takao Tanabe turns 100 this fall, putting renewed focus on his serene landscapes, painted on his home ground of British Columbia and as he travelled the world.

The Audain Art Museum is currently running Vistas: From Takao Tanabe’s Travels, including Machu Picchu (1990-2012), above.

The painting above is part of a special accompanying exhibition: Takao Tanabe: Inside Passage, also on view at the Audain Art Museum from June 13 to October 19, 2026.

With his camera always at hand, he journeyed widely to explore the wonders of places that sparked his curiosity and creative drive. Tanabe captured their geographical features and unique atmosphere, translating them into paintings in his studio that balance careful observation with poetic reflection. His works invite quiet contemplation, as if he listens intently to the land itself – The Audain

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a triptych, N.W.T.1/97: Beaulieu River (1997) above, donated by the artist to The Audain in 2018. This large-scale river painting has a quiet intensity, offering the viewer an immersive engagement with nature, while capturing Canada’s breathtaking scenery.

This image of the artist in 1973 is from the Mira Godard gallery, which has represented Tanabe for 65 years and where a 100th Birthday exhibition runs through June 27. Scan this 6-minute video of Tanabe’s works to understand the scope of his painting and printmaking – some of his early work beautifully bold and colorful.

The paintings above are part of the 100th birthday exhibition at Mira Godard in Toronto. 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.

“…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.‘” -Takao Tanabe in a 1999 artist statement, NGC

Born near Prince Rupert on British Columbia’s northern coast Sept. 16 1926, Tanabe grew up surrounded by the rugged atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest, a landscape that would later become central to his mature realist work (see more here).

Tanabe, son of a commercial fisherman, spent his summers at fishing camps along the Skeena River and was briefly interned as a “Japanese alien” during WWII (see a previous Art Junkie feature on Japanese Canadians interned during that war). Tanabe began his artistic training at the Winnipeg School of Art (1946-49), and continued through the 1950s at the Brooklyn Museum Art School, New York, The Banff School of Fine Arts, the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, and Tokyo University of Arts.

Tanabe taught at the Vancouver Art School (painting murals) and worked in New York City. Based there until 1973, Tanabe headed the Art Department and was Artist-in-Residence at Banff School of Fine Arts. He moved to Vancouver Island in 1980, where he lives and works.

Long considered one of Canada’s most important artists, Takao Tanabe’s work is in numerous international, public, corporate and private collections. He is the recipient of several honorary degrees and awards including Order of British Columbia (1993); Order of Canada (Member, 1999); the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2003) and Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Visual Arts (2013).

A full biography at the Art Canada Institute online site, here.

At the National Gallery of Canada here.

Exhibition at The Audain Art Museum, here.

At Mira Goddard, Toronto, here.

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This is No. 78 in 150 Artists, an ongoing series on Canadian artists you should know.