Mansión del Agua 1965

Gunther Gerzso, a master of abstract geometric forms, likely used oils to create this green and brown world, ‘Mansión del Agua’. I can almost feel Gerzso layering thin washes of paint, building up these architectural forms like sedimentary rock. I imagine he was thinking about pre-Columbian art and architecture, playing with a limited palette to suggest depth and shadow. Look at the way the greens vary in tone, creating this subtle sense of light filtering through water or foliage. There’s something incredibly solid and grounded about this piece, yet also fluid and dreamlike. Those hard edges meeting soft color fields evoke the feeling of a real place, but one remembered or imagined. The brown square in the center feels like a window into another dimension, hinting at a larger narrative, a secret world hidden just beneath the surface. It reminds me of the paintings of Josef Albers, but with a distinctly Latin American sensibility. I see a rich cultural dialogue, spanning generations and continents.