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LOT DETAILS
         
         
         
         
         
         
         

This session is closed for bidding.
Current bid: $2,750 CAD
Bidding History
Paddle # Date Amount

1824 24-May-2020 09:59:06 PM $2,750 AutoBid

23981 24-May-2020 09:59:06 PM $2,500

1824 23-May-2020 07:43:35 PM $2,250 AutoBid

23981 10-May-2020 10:26:05 PM $2,000

The bidding history list updated on: Thursday, March 28, 2024 02:11:23

LOT 425

OC
1926 -
Canadian

5 Studies for Osaka Expo 1970 Stamps
mixed media on paper
signed and dated 1969
11 1/2 x 8 in, 29.2 x 20.3 cm

a ) Stamp Design for Expo 1970
Takao Tanabe
OC
1926 -
Canadian

graphite and felt marker on paper
"preliminary sketch" and "Expo '70 stamp design Canada P.O. Rejected"
7 3/4 x 4 1/2 in, 19.7 x 11.4 cm

b ) Stamp Design for Expo 1970
Takao Tanabe
OC
1926 -
Canadian

graphite and felt marker on paper
"preliminary sketch" and "stamp design Canada P.O. Expo 70. rejected July 1969"
7 3/4 x 4 1/2 in, 19.7 x 11.4 cm

c ) Stamp Design for Expo 1970
Takao Tanabe
OC
1926 -
Canadian

graphite and felt marker on paper
"preliminary sketch" and "stamp design for Expo 70 Canada P.O. rejected july 1969"
7 3/4 x 4 1/2 in, 19.7 x 11.4 cm

d ) Stamp Design for Expo 1970
Takao Tanabe
OC
1926 -
Canadian

graphite and felt marker on paper
"preliminary sketch" and "stamp design Canada P.O. Expo 70. rejected July 1969"
7 3/4 x 4 1/2 in, 19.7 x 11.4 cm

e ) Stamp Design for Expo 1970
Takao Tanabe
OC
1926 -
Canadian

graphite and felt marker on paper
"preliminary sketch" and "stamp design for Expo '70 Canada P.O., rejected July 1969"
7 3/4 x 4 1/2 in, 19.7 x 11.4 cm

f )

in, cm

Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000 CAD

Sold for: $3,438

Preview at:

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the Artist by Robert Reid, Vancouver


Please note: these works are unframed. The image size of each work is 7 3/4 x 4 1/2 in. The sheet size of each work is 11 1/2 x 8 in.

These five felt pen and graphite drawings are designs Takao Tanabe produced in 1969 for consideration as designs for stamps to be used by Canada Post to commemorate the 1970 Osaka World’s Fair.

In Tanabe’s teenage years during the Second World War, he was detained with his family in a Japanese internment camp in central British Columbia. A quarter of a century after the end of the war in which Japan was left devastated, the 1970 Osaka Expo was a symbolic re-opening up of Japan to the world. Tanabe was was one of Canada’s foremost artists of Japanese heritage, and the selection of his designs would have been a considered choice, not only for the symbolic power the decision would have held, but also based on the strength of his colour and design. Unfortunately, Tanabe’s designs were not chosen.

The Canadian pavilion was designed by renowned Vancouver architect Arthur Erickson. In honour of the host nation, placed in the middle of the pavilion were large rotating “spinners” reminiscent of Japanese paper umbrellas. The graphics for these were designed by Vancouver legend Gordon Smith, a contemporary of Tanabe’s, whose use of colourful hard-edged abstraction complements the design elements in Tanabe’s drawings.

The last image shows all five rejected stamp designs together, with the stamps eventually chosen by Canada Post underneath them.

These works were given by Tanabe to the consignor, Robert Reid, from whom he learned the craft of typography and print design. In 1952 Tanabe arrived back in Vancouver from Winnipeg and was having lunch with Joe Plaskett, who needed an advertisement printed for an exhibition. They ended up at Reid’s studio on West Pender, where Tanabe was so amazed watching the printing process that he asked Reid if he could have a job working at his studio. The two maintained a friendship over the years, and these works were eventually gifted to Robert for his collection.

In 2007, the Alcuin society of Canada created the Robert R. Reid award to recognize lifetime achievement or extraordinary contributions to the Book Arts in Canada, of which Reid was the inaugural recipient. In 2010, Reid published a book titled Takao Tanabe: Sometime Printer, examining Tanabe’s printed design work through his career.


All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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