RADIO NACIONAL 19-May-1952 and OFENSIVA 25-May-1952. “GLORIA DEL BARRO DE CUENCA”. By Federico Muelas.
“…For some time I have been attending with silent respect to the hard work of the Cuenca potters… That is why it is more than esteeming the work of Pedro Mercedes trying to make his work balanced in the perfect lesson of eternal forms. He is among all those I know who knows how to see more broadly… And I have witnessed the success of those works of his, in environments where the originality is intensely cultured… “.
INFORMACIONES. 5-September-1956. “EL BOTIJO, EL MÁS VIEJO FRIGORÍFICO DEL MUNDO. DEL TORNO DE PEDRO MERCEDES SALEN A MILLARES”, By J.R.Alfaro.
“… this simple character is about to take a very important step in his existence and even with great repercussion in others. For some time now he has alternated the manufacture of botijo with ceramics and other works of very varied and beautiful style … he has given way in his activities to a strong artistic distress … “
LEVANTE. 30-September-1959. “PEDRO MERCEDES, ARTISTA AUTODIDACTA, REAL ALARCÓN LE CALIFICÓ COMO EL MEJOR ALFARERO ACTUAL”. By Eduardo Bort Carvo.
“… It is really difficult to find a man with more vocation, for his work, with more enthusiasm for his work, …. look at the object that he is creating with delight, almost admiring it, lending him all his artist’s love inspired from the beginning …
SOLIDARIDAD NACIONAL. 14-June-61. “BARRO DE CUENCA Y ARTE DEL MUNDO”. By José María Tavera.
“… is something more than a potter: he is a genius of pottery, one of those chosen who have in his hands the faculty, which only God gives, of turning a trade into true craft, into true art. “
DIARIO “MADRID”. 16-October-1961. “PEDRO MERCEDES, ALFARERO DE CUENCA”. By José de La Vega.
“… for him earth and mud are fundamental, because his imagination and his hands run wild and configure a thousand objects that he considers a bit like children…”
OFENSIVA. 19-April-1962. By Raúl del Pozo.
“… and nature has given so many gifts that without any attribute is rising sensationally”
DIARIO “YA”. 31-April-1964. “LA BELLEZA DEL BARRO.” By J.M. Pérez Lozano.
“… his hands have a hundred centuries of wisdom. Heir to a divine art, the art of clay; of an art that is a clue of man … “.
INFORMACIONES. 5-December-1969. “CRÓNICA DE ESPAÑA: SE LLAMA PEDRO MERCEDES Y ES ALFARERO POR LA GRACIA DE DIOS.” By Tico Medina.
“… The miracle worker Pedro Mercedes, son of God in the right line, because he creates and destroys what he wants, and then he cooks to the degrees that the Father cooked the man …”.
LA PRENSA.- BUENOS AIRES. 31-October -1971. “CUENCA Y PEDRO MERCEDES SON ÚNICOS” By Ana Biró de Etern.
“… I was “chiselling” a piece and while we kept, he made appear, as a true magician of that black paint that covered the piece, tender little donkeys, many slender, dancers, birds and fantastic bulls. After which engraver with his burin, take a simple nail and scrape the drawings … “
“… I want to mention here to relate the generosity of D. Pedro, to whom the other potters have begun to imitate and copy him, who never raised his voice in protest against such plagiarism. It goes without saying that none of them can reach the level of authentic artistic creation and poetic content of their pieces … “
TELEVISIÓN ESPAÑOLA. 14-January-1981. “DE CERCA”. By Jesús Hermida.
“… how a man who leaves school at age 12 can use phrases such as: “… life is pottery…” , “… suffer the earth”, “…I talk to the clay and the clay talks to me”, etc. If it is not because he has inherited the wisdom of hundreds of years?…”.
REVISTA TIEMPO DE VIAJAR. March-1988. “CUENCA MAGIA Y MISTERIO”. By Emilio Rey.
“He is satisfied with being from Cuenca and in his workshop a tranquil peace is perceived. His peculiar creations are translated into the serene introspection of his powerful dream fantasy… “.
RADIO NACIONAL DE ESPAÑA-RADIO UNO. 26-June-1988. “LOS ÚLTIMOS GATOS”. By Andrés Aberasturi.
“… Talking about the most beautiful art, perhaps the most primitive, where the clay and the hands come together, is talking about Pedro Mercedes, that Cuenca potter whose fame has transcended internationally…”.
EL DÍA DE CUENCA – 5-September-1990. “LA LUCERNA DE PEDRO MERCEDES”. By Antonio Maseda.
“We do not know how good we have in Spain, but it’s never too late to meet Pedro. They say “the bad tongues” that is one of the best potters in our country, “the good ones” which is the best. … meanwhile he shows us the print he is making. I am surprised, because of the unpublished work that for me is scoop. No wonder someone said that only “when man stops creating, he dies”.
CORREO DEL ARTE. June-1992. “PEDRO MERCEDES”. By Antonio de Santiago.
“Styles and forms, from the archaic and rocky to the abstract almost, have been reborn with stunning beauty in Pedro Mercedes … In addition to turning by hand, like a primitive potter, he draws with the expressiveness of lines of the most modern Picasso, and paints with the Sober colors of the good of Benjamín Palencia from the partridges … “
“We will have to agree, then, with the experts who, knowing him thoroughly, affirm that Pedro Mercedes is in these times an exceptional artist, unique and maybe unrepeatable.”
REVISTA HISPANIA NOSTRA. November-2001. “UN PATRIMONIO DE BARRO” By Francisco Ramírez Viu.
“… Watching his work, the viewer has the feeling of facing an argument against those who maintain that art began a dehumanizing process long ago, which has led to a simple conceptual stage. There is nothing cerebral in this pottery … “
REVISTA CERÁMICA. June-2004. “PEDRO MERCEDES”. By ANTONIO VIVAS.
If Pedro Mercedes lived in Japan, he would be considered a great master of pottery and would have undoubtedly achieved the title of “living national treasure”, the highest honor that an artisan can achieve “.
DIVERSAS PUBLICACIONES – 5-October-2004. “CUENCA RECONOCE LA GENIALIDAD DEL CERAMISTA PEDRO MERCEDES”.
“The Minister of Culture, and other authorities, visitin the old potter of the ¨master of the clay” and attended the inauguration of the ceramic sample, owned by the JCCM itself, which will later travel throughout Castilla-La Mancha.
“… The workshop needs funding for its recovery and restoration, since it is one of the few remaining in Spain, it is a place where art is breathed …” “… His work deserves to be, not only in his workshop, but in the Provincial Museum, together with that of other conquense of universal size … “
LA TRIBUNA DE TALAVERA – 17-February-2005. “LA ALFARERÍA PICASSIANA DE PEDRO MERCEDES, VISITA EL MUSEO RUIZ DE LUNA”. By María Bautista.
“… perhaps it is precisely because of this magic, because of the beauty, the treatment, the colors and the originality of his pieces, that he has been considered as one of the great men of culture …”. “… of the engravings, more modernist, both in thematic and in treatment and color; It can be said that they are a clear example of the artist’s advanced mind, fruit of his last years of work. “
CENTRO CULTURAL AGUIRRE – March-April-2007. “EL HOMBRE QUE HIZO HABLAR AL BARRO”. By José Luis Muñoz.
“Those who have studied the work of Mercedes points out how its decoration has a symbolist character, with appeals to the great principles of Western Christian ethics: love, tenderness, justice, understanding, humanism, tolerance, friendship, nature in its purest form … “
DIVERSAS PUBLICACIONES – 22-December-2006. UNIVERSIDAD DE CASTILLA-LA MANCHA EDITED A DVD WITH THE LIFE OF PEDRO MERCEDES TO BE DISTRIBUTED IN SCHOOLS AND HIGH SCHOOLS
“Mercedes, the man, the potter, the artist” is the title of the DVD, with which the University intends to honor a person and an exceptional artisan.
“… his dream is that he did not lose his life in the workshop, to have the first-hand reference of a teacher like Pedro Mercedes and to know directly the impression of his friends, so that he would open the interiority of his creative and creative soul. . “
REAL ACADEMIA CONQUENSE ARTES Y LETRAS – 29-October-2007. PEDRO MERCEDES IS INVESTED AS ACADEMICIAN OF HONOR
Conference by Natacha Seseña:
“… when I knew Pedro ¿1960?, he had already had an inspiration, it’s like who gets a fairy with a stick, … the line of Mercedes on the clay is with precision and with an exemplary artist … It is also important to note that there is an academy like the one in Cuenca, that has made Academic a man who has worked with the soil, with clay, with water, with what has never been valued … his modesty is that of the true artist … is for me the great poet of the clay… his work really has a perfection, with those lines, to give the shade, to give the volume, that you say: “Well, how can this be done? With a razor scraping or with a nail”
DIVERSAS PUBLICACIONES – 13-February-2008. “Cuenca y Castilla-La Mancha recordaron al genio de Las Ollerías”
“The City of Cuenca decrees a day of official mourning for the death of the potter Pedro Mercedes” – “The flag of the city waved at half mast on the balcony of the City Council throughout the day, and the full council was opened with a minute of silence. “The secondary school also held an event in his honor”.
DIVERSAS PUBLICACIONES – 2-October-2009. “EL AYUNTAMIENTO DE CUENCA LLEGA A UN ACUERDO CON LA FAMILIA DE PEDRO MERCEDES PARA ADQUIRIR LA MANZANA DEL ALFAR”
“… The mayor of Cuenca, Francisco Javier Pulido, informed yesterday of the agreement reached between the Consistory and the artisan’s son. He also added that once acquired the workshop the City Council’s intention is to establish a Foundation in which the Community Board would also participate in order to carry out the rehabilitation and adaptation to house a museum dedicated to the artist, a ceramics school, and a series of homes-artisan workshops … “
“… In this way an emblematic place of Cuenca will be recovered, where not only Pedro has worked, but several generations of potters for more than 300 or 400 years, in addition Pedro Mercedes will be very satisfied knowing that the goblin who always said that he lived in his workshop, will continue there … “
DIVERSAS PUBLICACIONES – 24-July-2012. LOS “CACHARROS” DE PEDRO MERCEDES LLEGAN A LAS CORTES PARA QUEDARSE.
“The Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha show 18 pieces of the potter P. Mercedes, which were previously installed in the headquarters of the Ombudsman, and which form a permanent exhibition that is open to all citizens who visit the Convento de San Gil. The president of the Cortes, Vicente Tirado, has valued that with this exhibition, the name of P. Mercedes joins other personalities of the Castilian-La Mancha culture, such as Benjamín Palencia or Gregorio Prieto …. Now this citizen of Cuenca will not only be ambassador of his “beloved city impregnated with his spirit”, but will allow to bring to the eyes of visitors, his art, said the president of the Diputación de Cuenca, Benjamín Prieto.
DIVERSAS PUBLICACIONES – 13-September-2014. “EN EL TALLER DE PEDRO MERCEDES EN CUENCA, ENCUENTRAN RESTOS DE ALFARES Y CERÁMICAS DEL SIGLO XVI”
“… The company Ares Arqueología has found in the excavation works carried out in the old Pedro Mercedes workshop, remains of ceramic pieces from the 16th century, including an oven that could date back to the 17th century…”. “… At the time of digging, archaeologists have been finding several layers of rubble belonging to the different artisans who have passed through this workshop, during these last 5 centuries… “.
LA TRIBUNA DE TALAVERA – 14-February-2015. “EL RASPADO ARTESANAL DE PEDRO MERCEDES” Por Daniel Perez :
“The Ruiz de Luna Museum hosts the exhibition of the artisan of pottery and artist Pedro Mercedes (1921-2008)… His imagination and his gift in drawing has led him to mix mermaids, warriors, bulls, animals or pregnant women in ceramics, giving each of his pieces a recognizable personality throughout the national panorama…”. “… In addition, a small sample of the materials found in the recent excavation of his workshop, prior to its conversion into a municipal cultural center. The oldest is a small bowl from the sixteenth century that shows the origin of the alfar…”.
DIVERSAS PUBLICACIONES – 26-February-2015. EL ALFAR DE PEDRO MERCEDES SE CONVERTIRÁ EN CENTRO CULTURAL QUE RECUPERARÁ LA FIGURA DEL ARTESANO.
“The mayor of Cuenca, Juan Avila, has presented the intention of the current Government Team regarding the Pedro Mercedes workshop. Thus, in its place a cultural center that aims to “be a reference for those cultural creators more dynamic and contemporary we have in the city”. Framed within the Urban Plan, a museum will be established that remembers the figure of Pedro Mercedes and the way of making pottery made in Cuenca. A library will also be built, and there will be other spaces to house cultural activities. The mayor of Cuenca has also remarked that the project to rehabilitate the house “has been talking since 2009, and it was in this 2015 when we can start it”.
VOCES DE CUENCA -28-February-2015. El Alfar de Pedro Mercedes, Por José Luis Lucas Aledón:
“Well, yes sir, Cuenca is ungrateful with its people and things. Allowing laziness and forgetfulness to make a dent in them and take them away from the wind of abandonment. The artistic quality of our pottery and ceramics is well known, and of course and without a doubt Pedro Mercedes. All were promises to the family about the conservation of this master. Turn it into a museum open to tourism, as always saying a lot and doing little. Cuenca keeps tourist and cultural resources in any corner from the old town to any suburb. Let’s show them”.
ABC – Artes y Letras de CLM– 11-July-2015. “EL ALFAR DE PEDRO MERCEDES EN CUENCA: UN PROYECTO QUE NO DEBERÍA PERDERSE”, por Alfonso González Calero:
“… What really needs the figure of Pedro Mercedes is that his work can be seen, exposed, analyzed and be enjoyed by everyone, the general public and specialists. For this the city of Cuenca, since 2008, was clear that the goal was to buy the workshop where Pedro (and his family) lived and worked, and exhibit in it a good part of his work preserved… However, the first movements to save the Pedro Mercedes workshop started from almost the end of the 90s, although for many years before this possibility was discussed, the mayor of Cuenca at that time (2008) gave the first step, once obtained through the European Union an “Urban project” that would allow an economic aid to deal with the adaptation of the workshop, to turn it into a museum-library, for the work of Pedro Mercedes and as a cultural center for the neighborhood in which it is located (San Antón)… Well, today, 7 years later, that project has not begun to materialize. Now the question that remains in the air is whether the new Popular Party government in the City of Cuenca is going to resume the project and under what conditions… But what we want, like the vast majority of Cuenca, is that you do not miss that European funding and that the recovery project of what was the workshop of the largest craftsman of Cuenca in the twentieth century can finally see the light; his work will be exhibited in suitable conditions and be enjoyed by all, and act as a museum element that increases the already important cultural offer of the city of Cuenca”.