Mira Godard Gallery in Yorkville is hosting the Takao Tanabe 100th Birthday Exhibition this May, celebrating the centenary of the renowned Canadian landscape artist. Tanabe, born in 1926 in Seal Cove, B.C., studied at the Winnipeg School of Art and the Brooklyn Museum of Art School under Hans Hoffmann, later working in New York, London, and Japan before teaching at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. The gallery has represented Tanabe for nearly 55 years, and the exhibition features paintings and prints directly from his studio, focusing on British Columbian and Prairie landscapes.
This exhibition matters because it honors both Tanabe’s enduring legacy as a leading figure in Canadian landscape art and his rare, decades-long partnership with Mira Godard Gallery, which began with a monthly stipend in 1971. Tanabe’s influence on young artists and his receipt of major honors like the Order of Canada and the Audain Prize underscore his significance. The show offers a rare public viewing of works from his studio, reinforcing the gallery’s role in preserving and celebrating Canadian art history.