The catalogue for a solo exhibition of work by sculptor Maria Martins held at the Valentine Gallery in New York in 1943 included a group of texts on myths from the Amazon, specifically legends about mythological characters like Cobra Norato (addressed by Raúl Bopp in a modernist poem entitled Cobra Norato: Nheengatú da margem, a work championed by the anthropophagic movement), the Cobra Grande, the Boiúna, Aioká, the Boto (a dolphin that seduces maidens), Yara (the woman who turns into a canoe), Iacy, and—surprisingly—Yemanjá (the mother of the waters and a figure whose origin lies in the Yoruba gods from West Africa).

The exhibition entitled Amazonia gained widespread recognition on the New York art scene for sculptor Maria Martins (1894−1973). The show, which took place in the forties, featured cast bronze sculpture employing organic forms; the theme of the work was the mythology of the Amazon. Martins, who had spent much of her life outside Brazil, was one of the few artists from the country to be closely tied to the Surrealist movement. When this exhibition was held, she was living in New York, where she had come into contact with Surrealists, such as poet André Breton, and visual artists Yves Tanguy and Max Ernst. This catalogue demonstrates the primitivist bent of Maria Martins’s brand of Surrealism. The exhibition catalogue for the show at the Valentine Gallery, which opened on March 22, 1943, also contained a brief text by Jorge Zarur entitled “The Legend of the Origin.” A decade later—in 1956—French poet Benjamin Péret would write the text “Nada evoca tanto as mensagens da natureza quanto a obra de Maria...” on the occasion of a show of Martins’ work held at the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro. A text by Brazilian poet Murilo Mendes entitled “A ação de Maria como escultora consistiu em...” would also be published in conjunction with that show in Rio. As the wife of a Brazilian diplomat, Maria lived for periods in Europe, Asia, the United States, and other countries in South America. A printmaker, designer, and writer, she showed her work in group and solo exhibitions. She participated in a number of the Bienals de São Paulo, which she was instrumental in founding. The film The Secret of Marcel Duchamp (BBC, 1997) tells the story of her torrid romance with that French-American artist, the creator of Étant donnés [Given]. The article “Marcel and Maria” by Francis Naumann published in Art in America in 2001 provides more information on their relationship, and argues that Duchamp’s relationships with two women—Maria Martins and his wife Alexina, “Teeny”—were crucial to the creative process that led to the making of Étant donnés.