Lot Essay
Gunther Gerzsó's mature work is so immediate that the quieter, more contemplative paintings created between the two landmarks Tihuanacu (1946) and Memory of Greece (1959), have yet to receive the acknowledgement they undoubtedly deserve. These paintings are characterized by their quietude and evocative nostalgia.
El Azul (1957), a luminous blue profile, eyes and mouth darkened by a shadow, is a typical work created during 1957-1959, the two years preceeding the Greek Period. These landscapes and heads belong to the final stage of Gerzsós's preoccupation with ruins, which lasted twelve years. The landscapes will lack the characteristic horizon line and the heads often are read as abstract compositions - except for the Portrait of Jacques Gelman (1959), which has recognizable attributes of the sitter.
The paintings from this period feature broad, monochromatic surfaces of blues, pinks, ochres, or whites, often integrated by a few small complementary shapes that tighten the composition.
Out of this careful period emerged major works such as Lab-Ná (1959), the first work of Gerzsó's acquired by Mexico's Museo de Arte Moderno; it was acquired fresh off the easel. Another is Ancient Walls, acquired originally by Leigh Block (1958), known for his collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century art.
Salomon Grimberg
Dallas, September 1995
El Azul (1957), a luminous blue profile, eyes and mouth darkened by a shadow, is a typical work created during 1957-1959, the two years preceeding the Greek Period. These landscapes and heads belong to the final stage of Gerzsós's preoccupation with ruins, which lasted twelve years. The landscapes will lack the characteristic horizon line and the heads often are read as abstract compositions - except for the Portrait of Jacques Gelman (1959), which has recognizable attributes of the sitter.
The paintings from this period feature broad, monochromatic surfaces of blues, pinks, ochres, or whites, often integrated by a few small complementary shapes that tighten the composition.
Out of this careful period emerged major works such as Lab-Ná (1959), the first work of Gerzsó's acquired by Mexico's Museo de Arte Moderno; it was acquired fresh off the easel. Another is Ancient Walls, acquired originally by Leigh Block (1958), known for his collection of Nineteenth and Twentieth Century art.
Salomon Grimberg
Dallas, September 1995