Maria Martins Was More Than Just Duchamp’s Lover
A new book by leading Duchamp scholar Francis M. Naumann chronicles the artist’s affair with the Brazilian sculptor, but frequently reduces her influence and career to sexual allure.
In Marcel Duchamp's enigmatic final artwork, a nude woman sprawled out in a field, the figure is believed to be based on Maria Martins, the Brazilian sculptor who was Duchamp's model and first true love. According to historian Francis M. Naumann, Martins played a pivotal role in inspiring Duchamp's art for the next two decades following their eight-year affair, despite the fact that she was married to the Brazilian ambassador to the United States at the time.
The book "Impossible: The Love Affair Between Marcel Duchamp and Maria Martins, and the Artwork It Inspired" explores the relationship between the two artists and the impact it had on their creative endeavors. Naumann theorizes that Duchamp's Étant donnés was not only inspired by his drawings of Martins posing nude but also by her daring artworks, such as the 1948 bronze sculpture "Huitième voile (Eighth Veil)" and the lost 1945 piece "Je crus avoir longuement rêvé que j étais libre."
The book sheds crucial light on Martins's work, but its portrayal of her is uneven, with an imbalance in the way Naumann names his subjects and a focus on her physical attractiveness that feels one-dimensional and cartoonish.
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