During the late 19th and early 20th century, there was a dynamic in Chilean critical discourse on the world of visual arts. It bears witness to a process of constitution and development that features a number of different elements. In this context, the authors of this article have carried out a research project with a view to not only researching these formal and contextual elements involved in its development, but also understanding the concepts that have pushed it forward, such as its formalities and its circulation media. It was presented to the Fondo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de Chile, Fondecyt, under the title Construcción del gusto: la crítica de arte en Chile entre 1849 y 1960. Finance was obtained for three years (N° 1110647). In this article, we present the project's methodology which aimed at understanding written models, circumstances, actors and media involved in circulating art criticism in Chile.