Where to Find Information on Gunther Gerzso's Art
Feb. 9, 2022
The basic information on Gunther Gerzso’s (GG) art can be found primarily in books, art magazines, and of course, the internet. Additional information is archived by the family as well art galleries, auction houses, and museums.
For those who are interested in researching the authenticity of a work by Gunther Gerzso’s (GG), they should begin by looking at the images in the publications. It is a first step to classify the work in question in terms of the various styles of his art.
Books and Magazines
None of the books listed below are in print. Nevertheless, at any given time, most of them can be found at either Moe’s Books, William Stout Architectural Books, AbeBooks, Alibris, eBay, and of course Amazon. The Diana Du Pont et al. Book might be available at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.
“Gunther Gerzso. Exposición Retrospectiva”, Exhibition Catalog, Ensayo de Luis Cardoza y Aragón. Prólogo de Horacio Flores-Sánchez. Published by Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno, INBA, Mexico, 1963.
“Gunther Gerzso” by Cardoza y Aragon. Published by the UNAM, Mexico, 1972.
“Gerzso” by Paz, Octavio & John Golding Published by Editions Du Griffon, Neuchatel, 1983.
“Gunther Gerzso: El Esplendor de la Muralla” by Rita Eder Published by Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, Dirección General de..., México, D.F.(CDMX), 1994.
“Gerzso”, forward by Dore Ashton Published by Latin American Masters & Galería López Quiroga 1995.
This last book is the most comprehensive one on GG. I use it as my “go to” reference before I look at the other books.
“Risking the Abstract: Mexican Modernism and the Art of Gun- ther Gerzso” by Du Pont, Diana C.; Lozano, Luis-Martin; Med- ina, Cuahtemoc; Alfaro, Eduardo De La Vega Published by Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2003.
The list of articles in magazines on Gunther Gerzso will be posted at a later date. A very well researched bibliography appears in the book by Diana Du Pont et. al. “Risking the Abstract”.
Galleries, Auction Houses, and Museums
Galleries, auction houses and some museums are private enterprises and have their own policies on providing information. They are not in the business of storing and retrieving information for the general public, and yet they might be willing to respond to a reasonable inquiry.
1-Galeria de Arte Mexicano (GAM) in Mexico City sold many paintings by GG since the early 1950’s. It was originally founded by Ines Amor. The current owners and staff are leading experts in Mexican Art.
2-Mary-Anne Martin Fine Art (MAMFA) in New York City, began dealing in GG’s work in the 1980’s. Mary-Anne Martin is considered a leading expert in Latin American art in general but Mexican Art in particular.
3-Latin American Masters in Santa Monica, CA.
4-Virginia Miller Galleries in Coral Gables, Florida
5-Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City.
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico
6-Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City.
7-Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil in Mexico City. This museum in located in San Angel and near the houses of GG, Diego River, Frida Kahlo (at one time), Juan O’Gorman, Jose Luis Cuevas among others. The museum has a large collection of 1950’s era GG paintings and many of their images are posted on their web site.
Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico
8-Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA. Under the direction of the curator Diana DuPont, it organized the last retrospective exhibition of GG paintings, which later toured to Mexico City and Chicago. The catalog has a large collection of first rate reproductions complemented by a thorough analysis and bibliography.
9-The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles CA. They have a large collection of GG costume drawings he did while in the Cleveland Playhouse.
10- Morton Subastas, (Lopez Morton), Mexico City.
11-Christie’s Auctions, New York. GG works appear in various auction catalogs.
12-Sotheby’s (est. 1744) in New York. GG works appear in various auction catalogs.
Family Archive (John Michael Gerzso)
As a service to the art community, I am willing to consult the family archive to locate information regarding a particular work. I usually do not charge a fee for educational institutions, but sometimes I have charged individual collectors $500 US.
Records for paintings done after the late 1950’s are fairly complete. I make no claim that the archive is a complete record of all works created. If new credible and verifiable information regarding GG’s work becomes available, I might consider including it it the archive. But this has never happened in the past.
I limit my search to the archive. I am not a historian, so I do not have the credentials or scholarly training to search for information in libraries, galleries, or other archives.
The archive primarily contains records of most paintings before 1960, and all paintings after 1960 until 2000. It includes the designs of the paintings, black and white and/or color photographs.
Records of sculptures was not as organized as paintings and have not been cataloged yet.
There is one or two notebooks of the theater and movie set designs. Strictly speaking, these drawings were not his but owned by the theater and movie producers (work for hire). He never owned the copyright.
There are not records of any costume drawings.
The archive contains (probably)most of the exhibition catalogs, which include solo shows and shows which had at least one of this works.