Damián Carlos Bayón (1915–95) was an art critic, teacher and author of numerous books. He held a Ph.D in history and was a disciple of Jorge Romero Brest (1905-89); in 1948 he became one of the founders of the magazine Ver y estimar, for which Brest served as editor. The following year, Bayón moved to Paris and continued to collaborate on the magazine until 1955 (the final year of its publication). He then began working with theoretician Pierre Francastel. In the next two decades, he became professor in the University of Texas at Austin.Ver y estimar had two publication eras: the first encompassed its first thirty-four issues, published between 1948 and 1953; the second stage, between 1954 and 1955, consisted of ten issues. This publication was meant to be educational with regard to art criticism, for its readers and for the students of Romero Brest who collaborated on [the magazine.] Its articles dealt with artists, exhibitions and problems within the local milieu and international scene contexts, as well as with different historical periods. The artists who participated in this exhibition were: Sychra, Istler, Urban, Kosnar, Zmetak, Haas, Hudecek, Rejcek, Plocek, Dvorsky, Kotik, Holy, Janecek and Jindra. This document permits us to observe the relationship that Bayón establishes between certain perceptiveness, in this case the Slavic race, and its expressive manifestations as a method for explaining the formal qualities he finds in its works.
