Jorge Romero Brest (1905-1989) was a professor, critic, and promoter of the visual arts in Argentina. During the regime of Juan Domingo Perón (1895-1974) he was relieved of his academic duties and became the director of Ver y estimar [To See and Ponder] magazine. Later on, the de facto government that overthrew Perón on September 16, 1955, which called itself the Revolución Libertadora, named Romero Brest the administrator of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes [The National Museum of Fine Arts] of Buenos Aires. In 1956 he became the director of the Museum, a post he held until 1963. During the 1960s, he directed the Centro de Artes Visuales del Instituto Torcuato Di Tella [Torcuato Di Tella Institute’s Center for Visual Arts]. The Ver y estimar [To See and Ponder] editorial project was undertaken with the support of his students as an offshoot of the art history classes that Brest taught after being removed from his position as professor during the Peronist regime.Shortly after the military coup, Romero Brest signed the prologue in his capacity as administrator of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires. Two versions of the catalogue (in Spanish and French) are attached to this text. The following artists were in the delegation: Manuel Álvarez, Víctor Chab, Santiago Cogorno, Armando Coppola, Ernesto Farina, José Antonio Fernández Muro, Leónidas Gambartes, Jadwiga Alicia Giangrande, Sarah Grilo, Oscar Herrero Miranda, Alfredo Hlito, Víctor Magariños, Francisco Maranca, Miguel Ocampo, Rafael Onetto, Ana M. Payró, Leopoldo Presas, Raúl Russo, Ideal Sánchez, Luis Seoane, Clorindo Testa, Carlos Torrallardona, Carlos Uriarte, Leonor Vassena, José Alonso, Líbero Badii, Martín Blaszko, Carlisky, Neomí Gerstein, and Gyula Kosice. This material documents Romero Brest’s presentation of the Argentine delegation to the XXVIII Venice Biennial, which included a significant number of young artists.
