Amazonia by Maria Martins: A Journey between Geography and Anatomy

Brazilian artist Maria Martins (1894–1973) published the book Amazonia in 1943 as part of her exhibition New Sculptures at the Valentine Gallery in New York. Although the book featured photographs of some of the sculptures in the show, there are reasons to believe that it was not simply intended to function as an exhibition catalog. Instead, Amazonia can be regarded as a work in its own right, a textual and visual construction that unfolds the significance of the exhibited sculptures beyond their most salient features and themes. Drawing on information from archival material and a copy of the original book held at the Getty Research Institute library, this article explores Martins’s book, which brings together elements of geography, history, and anatomy to convey a vision of Brazil as her own imaginary territory.