1922-2018

The artist, designer, and philosopher of technique Tomás Maldonado died in Milan on 26 November, shortly after the passing of his wife, Inge Feltrinelli. He was 96 years old, an almost patriarchal age that attested to his status as mythical intellectual in Latin America. Born in Buenos Aires in 1922, Maldonado studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes between 1936 and 1942, period after which he consolidated his commitment with the avant-gardes and founded the Asociación Arte Concreto-Invención in 1945, seed of ‘arte concreto,’ one of the first currents of abstraction in Latin America. When the association was dissolved, Maldonado founded the publishing house Nueva Visión, became interested in the media, and defended the professionalization of design. In 1954 he moved to Europe and the United States: his first stay was at the Ulm School of Design, Princeton University afterwards, and finally Milan, where he promoted the creation of a graduate program in Design and directed Casabella, all the while publishing a long list of articles. Upon turning 80, he picked up painting again, an activity he considered to be, in his own words, “una revancha” (a rematch).