Emilio Baz Viaud (Mexico City, 1918 - 1991) mastered and exploited the effects of dry brush and trompe l’oeil with a finely honed drawing technique. His works demonstrate the patience and skill derived from his meticulous handling of brushes and materials. He entered the Academia de San Carlos (San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts) in 1938, studying under Manuel Rodríguez Lozano, a notable critic of Diego Rivera and a painter who diverged from Mexican Muralism.

Born into a family of artists, Baz Viaud stood out as a modern painter, drawing parallels to North American urban realism and the enigmas of metaphysical painting. He was influenced by his brother, Ben-Hur Baz, a prominent illustrator. In the 1940s, he held his first solo exhibition at Galería Clar Decor (Clar Decor Gallery) on Paseo de la Reforma, followed by another in San Miguel de Allende. Subsequently, he retreated to a monastery in Cuernavaca, where he explored abstraction — a change some attribute to a congenital eye condition that hindered his use of the dry brush technique.

Baz Viaud resurfaced in the 1980s with group exhibitions at the Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art), under Teresa del Conde’s direction: Siete pintores de la Escuela Mexicana (1984) and Emilio y Ben-Hur Baz Viaud (1987). His works reflect deliberate artistic choices, aligning him with contemporaries such as Gabriel Fernández Ledezma, Agustín Lazo, and Juan Soriano.