Accession 2008-19 - Antonio (Tony) Tascona

Antonio (Tony) Tascona was born in Saint Boniface, Manitoba in 1926. He studied at the Winnipeg School of Art (1948-50) and the School of Fine Art at the University of Manitoba (1950-53).

Tascona struggled to establish himself financially and to support his family by working as an electroplating technician. He managed to develop his artistic abilities and use work-day experiences to launch a unique series of artwork in aluminum and, after 1971 he was successful enough to devote himself to art full time.

His first one man show was in 1958 at the University of Winnipeg. Since then his work has been exhibited at art galleries all across Canada. Tascona was honored many times for his contributions to the visual arts. In 1970, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada awarded him an Arts Medal. There were numerous monetary grants from the Canada Council and the Manitoba Arts Council, a Canadian Silver Jubilee Medal was granted in 1977, and the Academia Italia Del Arti e Del Lavoro awarded him a Gold Medal in 1980. The University of Winnipeg gave him an LLD. (Honorary) in 1994 and in 1996 he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

Tascona was not dependant on commercial art galleries to promote his work. Rather, Tascona was at once both an artist and a businessman and his archival collections comprehensively document this aspect of his career.

Tascona won many commissions for his work. They include: murals, stabiles, sculptures, prints and paintings for buildings across Canada. Some of his major works can be seen at the Manitoba Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg, Saint Boniface Hospital (painting and stabiles), the Winnipeg Centennial Library, the Manitoba Law Courts Building, and the Windsor Public Library.

In 2000 and 2001, he sponsored the Tony Tascona Bursary at the University of Winnipeg to a student studying Canadian Art History.

Tascona died in Winnipeg in May 2006. His work is collected throughout Canada, the United States and Japan by private collectors, corporations and private and public galleries