Miyuki Tanobe

The Canadian artist, Miyuki Tanobe was born in Japan in 1937. From a family that promotes culture and art, Miyuki, name meaning "deep snow" grows in a favorable climate for a young painter. Coming from a well-to-do family, the young Miyuki takes classes in Japanese schools with European education. In 1956, she continued her studies at Guédaï University, the School of Fine Arts at the University of Tokyo. It was during her studies that she began learning nihonga, a Japanese technique.

Nihonga is a technique of Japanese painting. "It is a way of painting that combines the subjects, the perspective, the psychology and aspects of the aesthetics of the nineteenth century French with an execution based on certain methods of painting specific to Japan: powdered colors hand-crushed, Japanese brush, ink soumi, glue and water, incorporation of sand and mineral materials all on mulberry paper "¹.

After studying, she is accepted in the Society of professional painters of Inten group and participates in the Salons related thereto. At the age of 26, Tanobe leaves her native Japan for France. On her arrival, she settled in a pension, unwelcoming near Versailles. She leaves for Brittany. From these travels, Tanobe draws the entourages with a clear and encircled gesture typical of the Japanese drawing tradition. Throughout his trip to France, Miyuki Tanobe immersed himself completely in culture and banned the company of Japanese compatriots. She became a student at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She then travels through Europe traveling to Italy, Spain, Germany and Greece.

Miyuki Tanobe meets Maurice Savignac, Quebecker in Paris. A friendship is created and after a few years the latter convinces Miyuki Tanobe to settle in Montreal in 1971. Installed in the heart of the city in front of Parc Lafontaine. Maurice Savignac, who became her husband, made her visit the popular neighborhoods of the metropolis, she was amused by the clotheslines and mingled conversations of the people of the neighborhood. She then portrays the popular scenes of the neighborhoods of the city of Montreal. From then on, a growing popularity for these works. Several exhibitions are held in Quebec.

In 1975, Miyuki Tanobe made the large painting illustrating the Faubourg at M'lasse for the Japanese pavilion at Terre des Hommes. Nestled between the countryside and the city, Tanobe creates a series of paintings that make her famous throughout Canada. The publishing house Tundra books publish works by Tanobe for a book on children's games. Other illustrations for the book Québec, I love you, Quebec I love you, a book offered by Prime Minister Pierre-Elliot Trudeau to his Japanese counterpart during an official visit to Canada.

In 1981, she won the Canada Council for the Arts Award. She illustrated the secondhand book in 1983. In 1994, she was a member of the Royal Academy of Canada.

1. Definition of nihonga from the book Tanobe, Signature by Leo Rosshandler page 11

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