Edna Taçon

By Renée van der Avoird

Edna Ta on became a prominent figure in Toronto during the 1940s, where she had a crucial impact on the development of abstract painting. Described as "Canada's leading proponent of non-objective art," she split her time between Toronto and New York, maintaining a practice that was in step with leading avant-garde artists.

While she was formally trained as a professional violinist, Ta on was also heavily influenced by the teachings of Wassily Kandinsky, and her understanding of music intertwined with her study of abstraction. She described her painting as an arena in which "verve and decorum collide" and where "unexpected devices of design dash into a bright rhythm." While pursuing her radical art, she navigated societal barriers and a profound entanglement of her identity as a musician, artist, and woman in a maledominated field.

Accompanying an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Edna Ta on features twenty-four of Ta on's rarely seen oil paintings, watercolours, and paper collages, along with archival sketches, correspondence, and photographs of the artist. The publication also includes an essay by curator Ren e van der Avoird and an interview with the artist's grandson, contemporary sculptor Carl Ta on.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1773104551
• ISBN13: 9781773104553
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Goose Lane Editions
• Weight: 3.96 lbs.