Born on June 17, 1915, in Mexico City, during the Mexican Revolution, Gunther Gerzso's parents were immigrants from Hungary (mother) and Germany (father). His father died soon after his birth and his mother married a German jeweler and they took him to Europe to avoid the Revolution. Upon their return the couple was divorced and he crossed the sea again, this time to live with an uncle in Switzerland, where he met artist Paul Klee. In addition he was exposed to theater and became involved in set building and design, which he continued when he came back to Mexico. Gerzso won a scholarship to work in set design at the Cleveland Playhouse in Cleveland, Ohio, and returned to Mexico to make this his primary life's work. He did not take up painting as a serious occupation until the 40's.
Gunther Gerzso was a member of a Surrealist group in Mexico City including Wolfgang Paalen, Benjamin Peret, Leonora Carrington, among others. He painted mostly abstracts and rejected the ideologies of the muralism movement of the times. Gerzso won awards for his work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1973. He died in 2000.
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