Sold for: $8,850

PROVENANCE
By descent to the present Private Collection, Vancouver

LITERATURE
Ian M. Thom et al., Takao Tanabe, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2005, essay by Roald Nasgaard, page 26

In 1950 Takao Tanabe headed to New York to investigate the exciting innovations of the Abstract Expressionist artists there. He took classes from the influential Hans Hofmann and frequented the Cedar Bar, where the Expressionists gathered to share ideas. The power of the abstract was strong among serious painters at that time, and Tanabe said he felt that "I couldn't paint landscape if I wanted to be a painter." Back in Vancouver in 1952, Tanabe continued working through various approaches to abstraction. In the 1950s, lyrical abstraction rooted in landscape was a hallmark of other Vancouver modernists such as Jack Shadbolt and Gordon Smith. For Tanabe, the landscape, which would later dominate his work, began to infiltrate his paintings. Mountain Shadow, based on landscape-like motifs, is a fine example of Tanabe's lyrical abstraction from 1960. The dramatic contrast between white and dark blue, and the horizontal slashes of white, orange and green give the work visual impact. Although the painting can be read as a purely abstract work, it could also be seen as a mountain looming over something at its base: a most stimulating visual double life.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

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