Cristina Merchán


Cristina Merchán was a Venezuelan artist initially trained as a painter, and later became known for her ceramics.

Education

In 1951, she earned a degree from the Universidad de Guadalajara, where she had accompanied her spouse, painter, and cartoonist Manuel Antonio Salvatierra. Afterward, she studied low-fire pottery at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas y in Caracas with Miguel Arroyo, alongside the potters Tecla Tofano and Reyna Herrera. During these years, she participated in the cooperative Forma Veinte, and her work was included in the Salón Oficial de Arte Venezolano ; in 1957, she earned the Premio Nacional de Artes. Merchán received grants from the Fundación Eugenio Mendoza that enabled her to travel to Barcelona to study high-fire stoneware with Francesc Albors and José Llorens Artigas at the Conservatorio Municipal de Artes Suntuarias “Massana” from 1958 to 1961.

Career

In 1958, she began dividing her time between Barcelona, Paris, and Caracas and continued to show in group exhibitions at the Sala Mendoza in 1959 and 1960. Her first one-person exhibition of her high-fire pottery was held at the Museo de Bellas Artes in 1963, followed by a solo exhibition at the Sala Mendoza in 1964, where she presented works from her Los Bichos series of fantastical animals. This exhibition marked a pivotal moment, as Merchán transitioned from the tradition of utilitarian ceramics, and became more interested in the medium as sculpture. Her work was shown internationally throughout her lifetime, including solo exhibitions at the Museo de Bellas Artes, Henriette Gomès gallery in Paris, and at the Museu de Cerámica in Barcelona. Her later works consisted mainly of ovoid vases, glazed and fired at high temperatures. Merchán is distinguished by her glazes of subtle tonal variations that are laid over surfaces alternately smooth, textured, or incised with simplistic geometric patterns. Her personal collection of works is now housed at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Louvre, Paris.

Exhibitions