María Martins (Brazilian, 1894-1973) Macumba. Circa 1945. Lithograph. 455 x 340 [655 x 500]. Printed in black on a yellow background. Fine proof on vellum, numbered and signed in pencil, oxidized. Small halo of moisture at foot of folio. Short tear at left edge. All margins untrimmed. Edition of 15 proofs. Provenance : Galerie René Drouin, Paris. "The alluring Surrealist artist María Martins was both an inspiration and advisor to her lover Marcel Duchamp (American (born France), 1887-1968), as he created his final work, Étant donnés (Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1969-41-1). For the duration of their affair, which lasted from about 1943 to 1950, Martins offered Duchamp instruction in casting techniques, which he used in the construction of the work's female mannequin, for which she served as the model. Martins's own work exhibits a keen interest in her rich native culture, particularly Amazonian deities and the myths and legends of the Brazilian rain forest. Compositions such as Macumba, titled after a Brazilian colloquialism for Afro-Brazilian witchcraft, are animated with a writhing, baroque exuberance that accentuates Martins's themes of fertility, desire, and sexual cruelty." (Philadelphia Museum of Art).