The poetics of Rubem Valentim (Salvador, Brazil, 1922—São Paulo, Brazil, 1991) are closely linked to his city of origin. Born in Salvador, the Brazilian capital with the largest presence and prominence of Afro-Brazilian culture, Valentim's life was permeated by the symbolism of African-based religions. He began painting in his childhood but started his professional career in the late 1940s, participating in a movement for the renewal of the arts in Bahia.

His works span various media such as painting, printmaking, sculpture, and relief, standing out for the symbolic use of colors related to the orixás, associated with geometric forms. The artist avoids formalist readings, connecting the emblems that constitute his works with their sacred origins. Active during the rise of concretism and neoconcretism in Brazil, Valentim never associated himself with any group or movement.

Valentim received a travel award at the 11th National Salon of Modern Art, which enabled him to live in Europe between 1963 and 1966. He was the first Black artist to hold a solo exhibition outside Brazil, in 1965, at the headquarters of the Brazilian Embassy in Italy, the Palazzo Pamphilj. In 2022, the same venue hosted the solo exhibition Rubem Valentim: A Riscadura Brasileira.

The artist participated in the Venice Biennale in 1962 and in several editions of the São Paulo International Biennial, from 1955 through the 2020s. In 1966, he took part in the First World Festival of Black Arts in Senegal. He has been the subject of retrospective exhibitions at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP) and the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, among other institutions. His works are held in major institutional collections in Brazil and abroad, including the Museu Afro Brasil Emanoel Araújo, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM SP), Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna di Roma, among others.