At an exhibition of works being considered for the Prêmio Leirner de Arte Contemporânea at the Galeria de Arte das Folhas in 1959, the art critic and businessman Wolfgang Pfeiffer discusses the parameters of Tomie Ohtake’s work. Away from the spotlight provided by prizes and publicity, this creative Japanese immigrant quietly shows her abstract works at a few exhibitions in São Paulo. In Pfeiffer’s opinion, however, her kind of abstraction is somehow based on the “solid underpinnings of constructive art.” Ohtake’s works also pay tribute to the Asian calligraphy tradition, contributing to her undeniable flair in the field of Modern art.  

Another important point the author makes about Ohtake’s work in his brief text refers to her “well developed feeling for color,” an attribute that enlivens her surfaces. 

Tomie (Nakaburo) Ohtake (b. 1913; d. 2015) was a visual artist; she was born in Kyoto. In 1936, while visiting her brother, who lived in Brazil, she decided to settle in São Paulo. After meeting Keisuke Sugano she started painting. She had her first exhibition at the Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna in 1957. She exhibited her work at the VI Bienal de São Paulo (1961) and her prints were included in the printmaking section at the XXXVI Biennale di Venezia in 1972. She took part in the Tokyo Biennial in 1978. In the mid-1980s she enjoyed a period of urban exposure when gigantic versions of her works were painted on buildings in downtown São Paulo, mainly on the rua Xavier de Toledo. In 2001 her sons—Ricardo and Ruy, both architects—opened the Instituto Tomie Ohtake, an exhibition space and research center in the Pinheiros neighborhood.          

Because of its abstract nature, Ohtake’s work is not included in the Leirner Collection. 

Wolfgang Pfeiffer (b. 1912; d. 2003), the German critic, arrived in Brazil in 1948, and held important curatorial and academic positions in São Paulo, including technical director of the MAM-SP (Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo, 1951–1959) and similar roles at the third and fourth editions of the São Paulo International Biennial. Pfeiffer was appointed cultural attaché at the German Consulate in São Paulo (1960–77), chairman of the board at the Goethe Institut (1970–82), and director of the MAC-USP (Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo, 1978–82).