Tomás Maldonado, the painter, designer, and thinker, was born in Argentina in 1920. He was among the contributors to Arturo magazine. He was a founding member of the Asociación Arte Concreto – Invención [Concrete Art and Invention Association], and editor of nueva visión [New Vision] magazine. In 1954 he went to Ulm, Germany, where he was a professor at the Hochschule für Gestaltung (Higher School of Form), the institute created by Max Bill. Maldonado currently lives and works in Italy, and has published a number of books. Ver y estimar [To See and Ponder] magazine was published by Jorge Romero Brest with the help of a group of his students. It appeared thirty-four times between April 1948 and December 1953. Publication was interrupted for a few months, and then ten more issues appeared during its second incarnation, which lasted until October 1955. Damián Carlos Bayón was the head of the editorial department. Blanca Stabile de Machinandiarena (1911-1991) was an art critic and journalist; she was also engaged in the defense of women’s rights. She was the Argentine ambassador to the United Nations and, in 1958, was in charge of the National Department for Women’s Social Safety and Protection at the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. This letter from Maldonado is included in Blanca Stabile’s “Dialogue with our Readers” section. Maldonado clarifies certain statements made by Stabile in other articles that were published in Ver y estimar magazine. Stabile’s articles on Concrete art groups can be found in the following records: #742283; #742309; #742821; #743336; #742822; and #742815. This material has been chosen because it documents the opinions of one of the members of the Grupo de Artistas Modernos de la Argentina [Modern Artists of Argentina] or GAMA concerning the workings of the group during the period 1952 through 1955. Furthermore, since the GAMA group included the Concrete artists Tomás Maldonado, Alfredo Hlito, Lidy Prati, Claudio Girola, and Enio Iommi, as well as independent Abstract artists such as Miguel Ocampo, Antonio Fernández Muro, and Sarah Grilo, this source helps to explain the role played by Aldo Pellegrini in the organization.
