Modern Design for Living in Venezuela: Miguel Arroyo and his Circle, 1948-196

This work examines the life and legacy of Miguel Arroyo (1920-2004), a Venezuelan designer, potter, educator, and museum administrator who was one of the first professional designers in Venezuela. A little-known figure outside specialized design historical and art historical circles today, his practice indelibly shaped Venezuelan, and, indirectly, Latin American modern design, this study contextualizes Arroyo's contributions within the broader narrative of his early life and formative beginnings to the end of his career as well as within the history of modern Venezuela. It also traces various circumstances that impacted both his personal life and modern Venezuela, from the late 1930s to the 1960s, as well as Arroyo's direct contribution to the development of modern Venezuelan design, crafts, and design education, all of which have been largely overlooked, particularly the latter two. This study presents the first detailed study of Arroyo's impact on the creative and intellectual formation and practice of a generation of designers, studio craftspeople, fine artists, patrons and others, whose circles intersected with his. Arroyo played a key role within this wider network and helped shape a new type of modern Venezuelan national identity, beginning in the 1940s. This study contextualizes Arroyo's work with those of his peers who shared his interests and strategies, including his affiliation from afar to the group Los Disidentes in Paris (194550) and considers the ways in which Arroyo designed, produced, retailed and promoted what he considered "good design" objects for daily life in Venezuela. At the same time, it explored Arroyo's role in promoting studio ceramics in Venezuela, and argues that his lifelong dedication to ceramics was a major factor in the elevation of the status of pottery to a fine art form in Venezuela, and brought international visibility and acclaim to both the medium and the country.