Pál Gerzson taught for decades, first at the Budapest School of Applied Arts between 1960 and 1974, and then at the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts between 1974 and 1996. Many of his students are now renowned artists.
« Pál Gerzson was my teacher, a stern and consistent young man, with clear and intelligent speech; we, his students, were proud to learn from him. » Pál Antal, graphic artist
« He wasn't talkative, it's true. He corrected us with few words to always get to the point. » Márta Göbölyös, textile artist
« Then he said a few simple sentences to ponder. Try to draw as if you only had 5 minutes. Observe everything, fine, but only let the essential elements appear on the paper. » Csaba Ásztai, painter
« Every summer, we spent a month in Szigliget, where the beauty of the landscape enchanted us. The mind was then freed and the imagination cascaded to the Balaton. » Magda Vágó, painter
« Our master exhorted us to professional integrity and a great deal of humility when we had a brush wriggling between our fingers and the searching fervor, we opened our eyes and our souls. » Csaba Szegedi, painter
« He brought to our attention the richness and beauty of the pictorial tradition and of human culture in general. » Erzsébet Egri, painter artist
« I understand today how conscious he was of representing the substance of his teaching: there are pictorial values that span the ages that we must reconquer, show again and again, day after day, with talent, diligent and passionate work. » Márton Magyari, painter
« The Master liked to come to work early. Upon arriving, he would invite early-rising students to his studio for tea. These sessions were incredibly instructive. He would talk about his own paintings. He would discuss every possible subject that occupied him, from the conception of the idea of representation through images, to the solutions to compositional problems, down to the smallest details of painting technique. He spoke of the miracles of Szigliget, of the painter Egry, and of the lights of the Pannonian landscape. » Béla Garamvölgyi, painter
« His colorism could be explained by the mystery of the melodies that remain in the head and that we hum after a concert. It is the evocative forces of colors and the system of multi-lame correlations, precisely tuned, that create this ethereal and captivating artistic effect, inaccessible to many people. » Gábor Tari, painter artist
« In addition to the frequent correction sessions in the studio, from time to time, we had the opportunity to go up to the third floor to bring a larger compilation of our creations. These consultations also allowed us to have permanent access to his studio, to follow the evolution of his painting, the birth, the progress of his paintings. While sipping tea or coffee and – let's face it – enveloped in the smog of a blonde, we analyzed our 'harvests' with him then, after the discussion, we left him, armed with his teachings and values to digest. » Ifj. Durkó Zsolt, painter
« His speech served as a lesson for me for life: How could checkmate be the fault of the chessboard? In a situation close to checkmate, turning the board over instead of making the effort is an immeasurable escape. If we take checkmate, we put the pawns back in place and begin the rematch. » Tamás Cserna, painter
« At the Higher School, our training took place in two different locations: in our shared studio, number 13 on the second floor, and in the Master's studio, one floor above. Downstairs, we discussed everyday problems that arose during our studies, while upstairs, over terribly strong tea, we discussed all other topics, and sometimes also the Master's works. » György Bokor, painter artist
« His corrections were always laser-cut to perfection. He illustrated the essence of his critiques with examples from art history or through works by the greatest painters. One learned a lot from him: understanding a work, the essence of reasoning through images. In order to grasp and absorb his corrections, one first had to be able to stay afloat in his erudition. » András Kecskés, painter artist
