Grupo dos Cinco are known for their pivotal role in seeking what it is to be Brazilian as well as their work and involvement with the Semana de Arte Moderna, although Amaral did not participate.

[2] Her use of bright colors and abstract figures could not be more in more opposition to the romantic, naturalistic paintings that conservative Brazilian culture revered.

While mass reception was overwhelmingly critical, Malfatti's work attracted the attention of Brazilian intellectuals such as Oswald de Andrade and Menotti del Picchia.

[3] Brazil was a conservative country during this time and had yet to be properly introduced to modern art styles such as Cubism, Expressionism or Fauvism that were being practiced in places such as Paris and New York.

Amaral was in Paris at the time of the exhibition, but came to Brazil three months later and met with Malfatti, Picchia and the Andrades in her studio on the Rua Vitoria.

Reflecting on these times, Amaral wrote, "We must have seemed like a bunch of lunatics shooting off everywhere in Oswald's Cadillac, deliriously happy and out to conquer the world in order to renew it".

Malfatti's 1917 exhibition caught the eye of the future members of Grupo dos Cinco and served as inspiration for the Semana de Arte Moderna that would help to officially bring the group together.

I want, in art, to be the little country girl from São Bernardo, playing with straw dolls, like in the last picture I am working on... Don't think that this tendency is viewed negatively here.

In her travels with Oswald and Grupo dos Cinco she was inspired by the Brazilian culture she witnessed, creating a series of landscapes and urban scenes of Brazil.

Although most known for his poetry, Picchia has had many titles including, "landowner, industrialist, banker, political figure, as well as poet, novelist, journalist, painter, and sculptor".

Not only was he one of the loudest proponents for Malfatti's 1917 controversial work,[3] Oswald also played a large role in organizing the Semana de Arte Moderna.

The Semana de Arte Moderna, although occurring slightly before the Grupo dos Cinco's formation, highlights the ideas and passions that the group would focus on and develop during their collaboration.