106. Cristina Merchán Vase, 1983 Glazed stoneware. 16.3 cm, 17.5 cm Monogrammed CM and dated 83. Cristina Merchán Vase, 1983 Glazed stoneware. 16.3 cm high, 17.5 cm diameter Monogrammed CM and incised 83. Provenance Fina Gomez, acquired from the artist Thence by descent to the present owner Born in Venezuela in 1926, Cristina Merchán began by studying painting before developing a passion for ceramics, learning the low-temperature technique but finding it unsatisfactory. So she moved to Barcelona, where she learned the technique of stoneware fired at high temperature at the Massana School. She took part in the exhibition organised by Fina Gomez in Barcelona entitled "Venezuela, del Paisaje a la Expresión Plástica" in 1964 and set up her studio in the garage of her patron's Parisian town house. The recipient of numerous awards and the subject of several exhibitions, including one at the FIAC, she also had a retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas in 1986. Apart from a period around the 1960s when she modelled her "bush figures", Merchán prefers to turn her pieces to achieve an elegance and simplicity associated with a soft palette. All is balance in the work of this artist, who died in 1987. Born in 1926 in Venezuela, Cristina Merchán first studied painting before becoming fascinated by ceramics, for which she learned the low-temperature technique which did not satisfy her. So, she left for Barcelona where she learned the technique of stoneware fired at high temperature at the Massana school. She participated in the exhibition organised by Fina Gomez in Barcelona "Venezuela, del Paisaje a la Expresión Plástica" in 1964 and set up her studio in the garage of her patron's Parisian mansion. She won many prizes and was the subject of several exhibitions, including the FIAC, and a retrospective exhibition was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Caracas in 1986. Apart from a period around the 1960s when she modelled her "bush figures", Merchán preferred to turn her pieces to obtain an elegance and simplicity associated with a soft palette. All is balance in the work of this artist who passed away in 1987.