Jim
Tanaka, a former resident of Rockland County has had his works exhibited
locally by the Rockland Center for the Arts, The Asian American
Invitational, Pepsi Cola, Sotheby-Parke Bernet Gallery, and The
Jazz Center in New York.
Originally
an artist for Walt Disney, Tanaka's work included the artwork for
commercial products like Donald
Duck Orange Juice.
His Jazz Poster series have been extremely popular, as evidenced
by the many on line venues selling his work,
'Stompin
at the Savoy' is a prime
example. The University of Michigan Museum of Art houses
'Calligraphic
Horse' an outstanding example of
his work with pen and watercolor. Tanaka's
works are also in the collections of The Revlon Corporation, McGraw
Hill Publishing Co., Bergen Community College and the Hartford Traveler's
Insurance Co.
Born in Reno, Nevada,
Tanaka grew up in Los Angeles, California where he attended
the Chouinard
Art Institute. In the East
he continued his studies at the Pratt
Institute and the Art
Students League in New York
City as the pupil of such eminent painters as Robert
Brackman, Rico
Lebruin, Claire
Romano and the late Rene Bouche.
He
also studied with one of the famous wood block artists of Japan,
Fumio
Kitaoka.
Jim
Tanaka died in 2008 of cardiac failure, he was 91.
His son, Mark recalled "...my dad as a warm, enthusiastic guy who tried to make the most of life. That's pretty much how he was till the day he died."
