Brazilian Abstract Artist Tomie Ohtake Dies at 101

Tomie Ohtake, a leading Brazilian abstract artist, died on 12 February 2015, as reported by O Globo. Born in 1913, she arrived in Brazil from Japan at age 23 to visit her brother in São Paulo and became stranded when World War II began in 1937. She settled permanently in São Paulo, where she developed a distinctive abstract practice exploring color, texture, and form through painting, sculpture, and printmaking. Her career launched relatively late: her first exhibition was in 1957 at the Salão Nacional de Arte Moderna, and she participated in the Bienal de São Paulo in 1961. In 2001, the Instituto Tomie Ohtake, a São Paulo arts complex designed by her son, architect Ruy Ohtake, opened in her honor. She received the Brazilian Order of Cultural Merit in 2006. A 2013 retrospective prompted ArtReview critic Claire Rigby to note the profound impact of Ohtake's work across São Paulo, visible in private collections, institutional prints, and public works like metro mosaics and a monument to Japanese immigration near the Centro Cultural São Paulo. Rigby described Ohtake's abstract beauty as fitting for the city's visually eclectic landscape.