His teaching activity over five decades combined with 14 books and more than a hundred articles on scientific and artistic subjects in academic journals, made him one of the more influential figures in his field during the middle part of the twentieth century.
[1][2] Tank's came from a traditional East Prussian family with close links to the Protestant Churches Union.
He was also a pupil of Prof. Paul Richer, an academic artist-anatomist whose reputation at that time extended far beyond the borders of France.
Between 1925 and 1936 he had a teaching contract with the German Academy for Body Exercises ("Deutsche Hochschule für Leibesübungen" / DHfL).
[4] Posthumously presented displays include those at the Galerie Edition Marco in Bonn (1978), the Museum of European Arts (1985) and the Schloss Nörvenich gallery (2003).