Sold for: $103,250

PROVENANCE
Equinox Gallery, Vancouver
Private Collection, Vancouver

Takao Tanabe grew up in Seal Cove, a small fishing village that is now part of Prince Rupert, on British Columbia’s northern coast. On his return to the coast in 1980 from Banff, he settled in Errington, on Vancouver Island. A self-described minimalist, Tanabe began to paint simplified coastal landscapes, depicting nature without human presence. He builds his images with up to nine layers of paint, smoothly applied, creating a floating, transparent surface. Here, Tanabe depicts Alberni Inlet, a long, narrow fjord that runs inland from the Pacific Ocean towards Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. In this dramatic painting, layers of clouds parade across the sky in a diagonal movement, and the progression of tones in the overcast sky moves from stormy darkness to lighter grey and a glowing pale grey at the horizon. Tanabe often uses this device of funneling towards a brightness on the horizon, thereby creating a focal point of uplifting light. Dark landforms and looming mountains capped by descending mist intensify the moody atmosphere. The opaque ocean, a steel-grey tone unique to these coastal waters during such weather conditions, laps towards us in soft waves. Alberni Inlet 1/96, with its magisterial beauty, is a superb Tanabe painting.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars