How Do I Know if a Gunther Gerzso Painting is Authentic? Part 2 Physical Characteristics.

Among the several ways to determined the authenticity of a Gunther Gerzso painting, or multi media work (acrylic, ink and oil) is to physically inspect of the work itself. In some circumstances, it might be the only way to do if there is no provenance documentation or publications. However, it is important to understand that this approach does NOT provide a definitive answer.

The basic characteristics of his paintings can be identified without a specialized knowledge of art or materials. If the preliminary inspection suggests that the work is authentic, then it may be justifiable to hire experts in using scientific techniques to determine the age and origin of materials, to analyze the layering of materials, and to show that the painting techniques are consistent with those used by Gerzso.

The first thing to know is that Gerzso almost always painted in his studio. In the 1940’s the first studios were rooms in his home, and in the 1950’s he built his first studio on the third floor of his house in San Angel, Mexico City. It was remodeled in the 1970’s and remained the same until his death. Not until the 1980’s did he have an assistant.

He painted in the studio always on the same easel next to a window facing north. The canvas or Masonite were prepared horizontally in a separate room measuring 10 ft by 15 ft.

The studio on the third floor of his house had obvious limitations on the size and materials of the paintings. Materials had to be carried in from the ground floor, through narrow hallways and stairs up to the studio. The finished work did the return trip out to an automobile outside. Vans were very rarely used.

In other words, -and in general-, it is very unlikely that a painting measuring 8ft by 12ft or larger was painted by Gerzso for the simple reason that it could not have been handled easily. Just to get a large painting in and out of his house would have been unacceptable to him.

As a side note, the constraints of the size and layout of his house also explains why he never made his sculptures himself. He always had somebody else make them such as Tane silversmiths, or the various foundries in Mexico and in the U.S.

And finally, for most of Gerzso’s life, Mexico restricted or taxed imported artists materials. He nevertheless insisted on acquiring the highest quality materials whenever possible. He therefore had to paint using a limited selection of materials.

Painting Surfaces.

Between the late 1930’s and 40’s, Gerzso mostly painted on canvas, water color paper, or illustration board known in Mexico as “ilustración”. As far as I can determine, there is no record of where he acquired these materials. It is entirely possible that they were given to him by the theater productions or Churubusco movie studios where he worked at the time. The materials were either manufactured in Mexico or imported by art stores. However, imported materials were restricted and/or heavily taxed with the objective of stimulating domestic industry.

From the 1950’s onward, Gerzso mostly painted on canvas, Masonite (Fibracel),or water color paper such as Arches.

He and/or his assistant would fix linen canvas on stretchers, or perform stretching, as he would say. The canvas was either prepared by him or his assistant or purchased already primed.

For the smaller paintings, he used Masonite (Fibracel) which he primed. Larger paintings using Masonite are heavier and harder to handle than a canvas.

Canvas and Masonite were the surfaces chosen for his oil painting. However, he also liked to work with mixed media, such as a combination of ink, pastel, acrylic, and water color. For these works he used water color paper made by Winsor & Newton, Arches, or equivalent.

Painting Sizes.

The dimensions of his paintings ranged from 5in high by 6in wide to 60in high and 36in wide. (Why does the art world ignore Rene by measuring height first and then the width? We say “xyz”, and not “yxz”.)

The proportion of the paintings very widely. He usually did not start with a standard commercial sized canvas, Masonite, or water color paper, and then create a composition. It was the other way around. He would first conceive or design the painting by starting with a proportion he was interested in using at that moment. He would then stretch the canvas, cut the Masonite or water color paper according to the dimensions specified in his notes or design.

Despite his efforts in working out a detailed design for a painting on Masonite, Gerzso would sometimes change his mind and reduce the height or width by cutting off a piece. He did not have the same flexibility using canvas. However, it is possible but not likely that he could have done the same with canvas. Removing it from the stretcher, cutting off a piece and then stretching it a second time is something he was technically capable of doing.

As mentioned above, the smaller paintings use Masonite and the larger ones use canvas.

Oil Painting Materials.

Except for the works he did before the 1950’s, the so-called “oil on canvas” or “oil on Masonite” painting are in reality a layering of oil and acrylic paint. The surface was primed with acrylic gesso usually made by Liquitex. In a separate small room next to the main studio, the background was applied. It could include ground pumice stone, ground pastel colors mixed in with an acrylic medium (Liquitex or the like). The background was made up of one or more several layers. The paint was left to dry for more than two days.

If the design was very geometrical, then the line work was drawn on the surface using India Ink.

Once the background color was done, Gerzso began painting in oil on his easel in the main studio next to a very large window facing north. The oil was applied very thinly to give a translucent effect. It was left to dry or set for at least a week to 15 days. This process was repeated many times during a period of six to twelve months. If Gerzso was not satisfied with his progress, he would sometimes put the painting aside for several months and think about how he wanted to finish the painting. Sometimes he destroyed the painting. His approach to painting was the exact opposite of Bob Ross’s. Even when he was “messing around”, he very rarely if ever finished a painting in one day much less 20 minutes.

Even a non expert can see that Gerzso’s oil paintings are so smooth that it hard to distinguish the layers of the paint.

The final layer of the painting is usually an acrylic matte varnish (Liquitex or equivalent). Lightly scratching the varnish (not recommended) indicates that it is very hard and durable.

Mixed Media Materials.

Gerzso produced works using mixed media since the early 1940’s. However, after the 1970’s, he used it more frequently than before. During his Altiplano/Maya period, he would design the painting in the same way he did for his oil paintings.

The upper limit of the sizes of these works was about 20 in high by 32 in wide and was determined by the size of the water color paper he wanted to work with.

First, the water color paper was usually taped to a piece of plywood. The line work of the design was either drawn in pencil or India Ink. Then the background was applied in the small side room as usual. Sometimes the background had a texture usually using ground pastel colors, but once in awhile he would use tissue paper (Kleenex), or anything he happened to have at hand.

During the last stage of the process, he painted in colors using acrylic paint.