And it is Duchampâs letters that contain the exhibitionâs big reveal: the love story. Three of them, actually, for it seems that the figure in Ătant donnĂ©s is, in fact, an amalgamation of the three women Duchamp loved in the last 20 years of his life. First thereâs Martins who, as his tortured writing suggests, was Duchampâs great love (and lustâin one letter he presciently calls her âmy woman with the open pussyâ). The figure is cast from her body and he consulted her on each and every detail during the pieceâs conception. There is also Mary Reynolds, the Parisian bookbinder who is alluded to in the parchment used to create the figureâs skin. And finally, there is Alexina âTeenyâ Matisse. She and Duchamp married in 1951 and she remained his rock for the remainder of his life. Wisps of brown hair were originally visible grazing the figureâs neck but after taking up with the blond Teeny, Miss Ătant donnĂ©s was made over with similarly pale tresses.âOne of things we tried to do from the beginning is provide context as to why itâs always seen as being about sex and violenceâa 1960s context,â Taylor says. âI argue that the piece is really from the 1940s. Itâs a disconnect thatâs important to spell out. In 1949 people would have associated it more readily with Surrealism, artists like Hans Bellmer and Delvaux.â