Galerie Taménaga
Tom Christopher , United States
Tom CHRISTOPHER, It Was Him. And He Knew I Knew, huile sur toile, 137 x 152 cm, courtesy Galerie Taménaga
Although no emblematic monument of the city appears systematically, the viewer of Tom Christopher's colorful paintings inevitably recognizes New York City. More than its reality, what Christopher paints is the energy of this city and its inhabitants: pedestrians weaving in and out of the anonymous crowd, cyclists slaloming through the traffic, cabs going down an avenue flanked by its characteristic buildings. It is his only playground, the setting for his urban scenes inspired by everyday life. Everything blends and condenses in a precise balance of colors and drawing, while the environment represented tends towards an intense agitation. An attentive observer, Christopher sketches his subjects on the spot. His rapid pencil stroke allows him to capture a snapshot impression, even to the point of restoring the movement of life around him. Beyond the subject itself, the artist takes a benevolent look at those who are likely to invest his composition. In this diversity, he listens to conversations of all kinds and captures the best tirade to make the stretched titles of his works. In Christopher's work, the liveliness of execution combined with the talent of colorist and the absolute mastery of light lead to an optimistic expressiveness with an obvious Americanity, through which New York dons its most resplendent image.
The gallery
Founded in 1969 by Kiyoshi Taménaga in Tokyo, Galerie Taménaga successively opened two additional spaces in Osaka and Paris in 1971, then in Kyoto in 2021.
Galerie Taménaga is the first Japanese art gallery specialising in the great Western masters. As such, its collection includes many masterpieces by impressionist and modern masters such as Bonnard, Chagall, Derain, Dufy, Picasso, Redon, Renoir, Utrillo, Van Dongen, etc.
The prosperity of the gallery is intrinsically linked to a history of family and transmission. This is how Tsugu Taménaga joined the gallery in 1990. Like his father, he inherited a great sensitivity and curiosity, and decided to devote himself more broadly to the discovery and support of contemporary artists, following the example of the artists recognized today: Chen Jiang-Hong, Takehiko Sugawara, Kyosuke Tchinaï, Tamihito Yoshikawa, but also the American Tom Christopher, or the Spanish Lorenzo Fernandez.
With an active presence at prestigious international art fairs, Galerie Taménaga regularly exhibits the great masters of modern art in its four spaces and actively participates in the discovery of new talent. Today, it is one of the major defenders of the current Asian art scene.
