Galeria de Arte das Folhas was established in 1958 by Isaí Leirner (1903–1962), one of the directors of the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, with the assistance of the Grupo Folha that, among other things, published the newspaper Folha de São Paulo. The idea for the creation of the gallery arose out of a disagreement that flared up during the fourth Bienal de São Paulo held in 1957. Flávio de Carvalho (1899–1973), an eccentric poète maudit and controversial artist during the 1930s, who had been excluded from the biennial, accused the organizing committee of prejudice, claiming that it had shown favoritism toward Concrete art, thus dismissing any kind of figurative art. As a result of this incident, Isaí Leirner organized the exhibition 12 Artistas de São Paulo in the lobby of the newspaper’s offices in the Alameda Barão de Limeira, which was adjacent to the public thoroughfare in the historic Campos Elísios neighborhood. It was a space devoted to the visual arts that was in clear violation of the biennial’s rules. Ironically, the exhibition referred to in the article—which was organized a year after the gallery opened—was all about Concrete art. In other words, another disaster for Carvalho. The gallery was open from 1958 to 1962, the year when Isaí Leirner, the exhibition space’s main champion, passed away.
The Prêmio Leirner de Arte Contemporânea (Leirner Prize for Contemporary Art) was awarded annually after a group exhibition that included artists whose work had been well received at the previous year’s event. The gallery bought the work that won the Leirner Prize and then donated it to different Brazilian museums. Like the gallery, the Prêmio Leirner lasted until 1962.
The list of guests who attended the vernisage (and whose photographs appear in the newspaper article) included, among many others: Alfredo Volpi (1896–1988), Mário Zanini (1907–1971), Hermelindo Fiaminghi (1920–2004), Mauricio N[ogueira] Lima (1930–1999), Kazmer Fejer (born 1922), Waldemar Cordeiro (1925–1973), and Lothar Charoux (1912–1987).
