Founded in 1981 by Santiago Saavedra, it has published more than 1,900 books covering formats such as exhibition catalogues, guides, monographs on photography, design, architecture, landscaping, catalogues raisonné, publications of art collections and institutional books.

Since the 1980s, Ediciones El Viso has published books for 17 museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York , the National Gallery (Washington), the Meadows Museum (Dallas), the Hispanic Society of America (New York), the San Diego Museum, the Louvre or the Prado Museum . In 2012, it opened a branch in Mexico City (Ediciones El Viso América). Since then, it has published more than 50 titles there that reflect its three main areas of activity: art books for exhibitions, publications for companies and guides.

In February 2019, they opened their office in Paris (Éditions El Viso). The project began with a collaboration with the Louvre: the publication of the Solo collection, four books that analyse and explain four works from the French art gallery.