In chapter 1, Frank traces the development of Noé, de la Vega, Macció, and Deira before the group formed, discussing examples of their work against the backdrop of the Buenos Aires art world and contemporary events. Each of the artists’ first expressionist works responded to the rise of Informalism in painting as practiced by Alberto Greco and others. They also responded in various ways to disillusionment with the presidency of Arturo Frondizi, to political violence, and to tensions surrounding the survival of the prohibited movement of Juan Perón. Frank focuses particularly on Noé’s Serie Federal (Federal Series) (1960-61), which purported to illustrate violent episodes in the country's past. Frank considers Noé's exhibition of these works and explains how the novelist Ernesto Sábato came to use one of them for the cover of his novel Sobre héroes y tumbas.