In this programmatic article, Tomás Maldonado affirms that the Asociación Arte Concreto — Invención [Concrete Art and Invention Association] adheres to humanism by means of a revolutionary path and faith in man’s capacity for pragmatism. At the same time, he argues against those who believe Concrete artists produce incomprehensible art, which leads these same individuals to prefer figurative art.

This document was selected for its exposition of the programmatic bases proposed by the artists who aspired to an Invention-ist art: that which would not represent, but rather present, concrete realities. The publishing project of the Asociación Arte Concreto — Invención [Concrete Art and Invention Association] consisted of two publications: the magazine Arte Concreto [Concrete Art], published in August 1946, and the Boletín de la Asociación de Arte Concreto Invención n°2 [Concrete Art and Invention Association Bulletin n° 2], which appeared in December 1946. The Asociación de Arte Concreto Invención was made up of Edgar Bayley, Antonio Caraduje, Simón Contreras, Manuel Espinosa, Alfredo Hlito, Enio Iommi, Obdulio Landi, Raúl Lozza, Tomás Maldonado, Alberto Molenberg, Primaldo Mónaco, Oscar Nuñez, Lidy Prati, Jorge Souza, and Matilde Werbin; Manuel Espinosa, Raúl Lozza, and Tomás Maldonado directed the secretariat of the organization. Juan Mele, Gregorio Vardanega and Virgilio Villalba later joined the publications.

Tomás Maldonado, born in 1920, is a painter, designer, and Argentinean intellectual who collaborated on the Arturo magazine. He was a founding member of the Asociación Arte Concreto — Invención and director of the magazine nueva visión [New Vision]. In 1954 he traveled to Germany, to teach at the Hochschule für Gestaltung [School of Advanced Studies in Form] in Ulm, created by Max Bill. Maldonado currently lives and works in Italy and has published numerous books.