User:HeatherBlack/M Tanobe

Miyuki Tanobe, OC, OQ, RCA (1939) is a Japanese-born Canadian painter, printmaker and illustrator. Known for her lively scenes of daily life in Quebec, her work is a fusion of Western Art with Nihonga, a traditional Japanese painting technique. Recognized for her contribution to the arts, she was awarded the Order of Canada (2003), the Order of Quebec (1995), and the Governor General’s Jubilee Medal (2013). She also an elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1994).

Tanobe's work is described as "a celebration of colour, exuding freshness and humour". In keeping with the Japanese narrative tradition of Hiroshige and Hokusai, her imagery includes colorful urban scenes, legends, or folklore. Her unique pictorial style can be identified as Fauvism, although it is often referred to as Naïve Art or Primitivism. Her technique is a fusion of western subject matter and use of chiaroscuro with traditional Japanese painting mediums. Tanobe paints on paper with a Japanese brush and Nihonga hand-mixed ink and glue-based mineral pigments, but has also explored acrylic, gouache, watercolor, pastel and oil mediums, and printmaking.

Early Life and Education
Miyuki Tanobe was born on December 20, 1937 in Morioka, Japan. She was named Miyuki or "deep snow" by her father, an ophthalmologist with a passion for traditional Japanese prints. As a child she lived in Kamakura where, at age 11, she began formal art training under master oil painter Itaru Tanabe and, at age 13, began studying traditional Japanese painting, Nihonga, under Kobei Kabayachi. In 1954 she attended the Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai), where she continued to study Nihonga under Chou Ota and Seison Maeda. After graduating with a diploma in art education in 1959, she continued to study Nihonga under master Seison Maida. She became a member of the Japanese exhibition association INTEN (Saiko Nihon Bijutsuin - society of professional painters) in 1959, and her first solo exhibition was held in 1960. She also participated in the 1962 and 1963 Autumn Salon of Nihonga’s group exhibitions. In 1962 Tanobe moved to Paris to study art at the atelier La Grande Chaumière (1962-3), and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (1963) under Roger Chapelain-Midy. While living in Paris, a solo exhibition of her work was held at Galerie Royale in 1964, and, shortly after, she met her future husband Maurice Savignac. After a short stay in Japan in 1965, she returned to Paris and during the late 1960's traveled extensively throughout Europe, Turkey, North Africa, and Kenya. Invited to join Savignac in Quebec, in 1971 Tanobe moved to Montreal. In 1972 her first solo exhibition was held at the gallery l'Art français (later Valentin Gallery). She became a Canadian citizen in 1976 and lives in Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.

Career
In Montreal, Tanobe found inspiration in the people, architecture and everyday activities from shopping to street hockey. She continued to exhibit regularly at Valentin Gallery under the direction of Jean-Pierre Valentin, and later, befriended by Florence Millman, at West End Gallery on Greene Avenue. Known as an illustrator as well as an painter, in 1976 her book Québec je t'aime / I love you was published by Tundra Books. In 1980 she illustrated Gilles Vigneault's book Les Gens de Mon Pays which was awarded the Canada Council Prize for Literature for Young People in 1981. She also illustrated the 1983 edition of Gabrielle Roy's novel Bonheur d'Occasion (The Tin Flute). In 1991 her paintings of Canadian cities were paired with Roch Carrier's text in Canada je t'aime / I love you. In 1999 her illustration of a Quebec legend was engraved on a commemorative 50-cent coin by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Throughout her career, solo exhibitions of her paintings were held at the National Library of Canada (Ottawa ON), Place des Arts (Montreal QC) in 1980, Musée de Joliette (Joliette QC) in 1981, and the Pierre Boucher Museum (Trois-Rivières QC) in 1995, as well as at the private galleries: Galerie l'art Français/Jean-Pierre Valentin Gallery (Montreal QC), West End Gallery (Montreal QC), and Marlborough Godard Gallery (Montreal and Toronto). She has also participated in important group exhibitions including those held at the Biennale of the Grand Palais (Paris, France), the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1974 and 1978, Place des Arts (Montreal QC) in 1978, and the Centre d'histoire de Montréal. Her work is found in many permanent collections including 117 works in public museums or galleries in Quebec, including the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, Musée d'art de Joliette, the Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts, La Pulperie de Chicoutimi, and Musée Laurier Pierre-Boucher. Her work is also found in the corporate collections of Lavalin, C. I. L. Montreal, La Laurentienne, Pratt & Whitney, Shell Canada, and Reader’s Digest.

Contribution and Recognition
Tanobe has recorded everyday life in Quebec and Canada as well as key events including the Quebec Referendum. Published in Canada je t'aime / I love you (1976) and Canada je t'aime / I love you (1991) as well as on posters and magazine covers, her images resonate with the public. In tribute to her artistry, Léo Rosshandler wrote: "by virtue of their colour, their drawing and their technical competence, the works of Miyuki Tanobe bring out her gift as an observer and narrator, for she is a fluent storyteller." As for her importance, Rosshandler concluded: "Tanobe's place belongs with the narrative painters, the story tellers who have played so critical a role in the cultural history of Canada."

In 1994 Tanobe was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. In 1995 she was awarded the Order of Quebec, and exhibited at the Quebec Delegation's 10th anniversary in Japan.(Ross 32) In 2003, she was awarded the Order of Canada for her contribution to "the strong presence of pictorial art in Canada", and was also awarded the Governor General’s Jubilee Medal in 2013. Her work has been the subject of several documentaries including the 1979 National Film Board of Canada’s My Floating World: Miyuki Tanobe / Ce monde éphémère - Miyuki Tanobe, directed by Ian Rankin, Stephan Steinhouse and Marc F. Voizard. Other documentaries include CBC's Seeing It Our Way in 1982, Radio-Québec’s Arrimage in 1985, and Le Magazine in 1987.(Project Guten) She is also the subject of monographs by Léo Rosshandler Tanobe - Signatures (1980) and Tanobe (1988). Well known throughout Quebec, in 2012 a non-profit organization MU commissioned Tanobe to create a painting now reproduced on a Verdun building.