Russian orthopedist finds second career photographing architecture in Houston

Valentin Gertsman, MD, PhD, has had his photographs appear in exhibits, magazines and churches.

Valentin Gertsman

Russian-born orthopedist Valentin Gertsman, MD, PhD, has been photographing architecture in Houston since 1981.

His photography exhibits have been showcased around the world in prestigious locations such as the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Schusev State Museum of Architecture in Moscow, the Sorbonne Library in Paris, Le Palais de l’Europe in Menton, France, Rotunda and the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C. His photographs are in public and private collections, such as The Collection of the Vatican, The Menil Collection Museum in Houston, Bibliotheque National in Paris, Tretyakov State Art Gallery and the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Art, both in Moscow.

Years ago, a member of the Art League of Houston visited Gertsman’s photography studio. The walls of the studio, filled with art and interspersed with photos from Gertsman’s 60-year medical career, prompted the visitor to ask which profession Gertsman identified with more — a surgeon or an artist.

“When I am a surgeon, I feel like I am an artist; when I am an artist, I feel like I am a surgeon,” Gertsman recalled during an interview with Orthopedics Today.

This composite photo, “MIROcle ball,” was taken in 1984 and is based on an image of a sculpture by Joan Miro titled, “Personage and Birds.” Images: Gertsman V

In 1943, a 17-year-old Gertsman joined the Soviet Army. He was placed on the front lines during the Siege of Leningrad, where he was wounded by a German sniper. He spent the last years of the war working at the Exhibition of Captured German Equipment in Moscow’s Gorky Park where the Soviet Union displayed tanks, weapons and other paraphernalia recovered from German military forces. Gertsman went straight from the military into medical school, a decision he said he made because his father was wrongly imprisoned in a Siberian gulag from 1938 to 1946. “One of my thoughts was that if I were to someday, like my father, be imprisoned in a concentration camp, I could work [there] as a doctor,” Gertsmann said.

Gertsman attended the First Moscow Medical School, graduating with a specialization in general surgery in 1951. As a veteran of World War II, Gertsman was able to choose which hospital he wanted to work at, unlike most graduates who had hospitals chosen for them. He chose a 40-bed hospital in Udobnaya, a tiny village with a beautiful backdrop in southern Russia. As the hospital’s only surgeon, Gertsman operated barehanded because medical supplies were scarce. He said that some days he was lucky if the electricity worked, and often found himself toiling by the dim light of a kerosene lamp next to his operating table.

“I became a surgeon because I am impatient,” Gertsman said. “I like to see results right away, and I thought that surgery is the one thing that can satisfy my personality.”

Gertsman took this photo of Enterprise Plaza – then called First International Plaza – in 1980. This 55-story skyscraper was once the tallest building in Texas.

Orthopedic career

Gertsman attended the Central Institute for Advanced Medical Studies in Moscow and graduated with specialization in orthopedics in 1957. He accepted a job at the Botkin Hospital and later worked at the Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics at the USSR Ministry of Public Health in Moscow. In 1969, he received his PhD there and eventually rose to the level of Deputy Chief of Orthopedic Surgery for the country.

In 1974, he immigrated and started a new life in Houston. Almost immediately, Gertsman found a job as an assistant surgeon at the Spring Branch Medical Center and held the position until 2010.

Three years later, Gertsman discovered three small pieces of driftwood in his desk. He had picked up these pieces in the woods shortly before he left the Soviet Union.

“When I left my country, I left my culture, my children — everything,” Gertsman said. “So why did I bring these little pieces of wood?”

Gertsman coated the wood in preservative oil and mounted them as a sculpture. After finding a buyer, he borrowed an old Mamiya camera from an artist friend and began taking photos for posterity. During the process of photographing this piece, he realized he had found another way of expressing his artistic creativity.

Exhibition opportunity

In 1981, a close artist friend invited Gertsman to photograph downtown Houston. Gertsman agreed at once.

“When I first saw the Houston skyline against the deep blue sky, I immediately fell in love with the city. For me, it was like a fairy tale,” Gertsman said.

Later that year, Gertsman’s colleague at Spring Branch, Marcel Molina, MD, offered Gertsman a chance to showcase his photography and sculptures in the lobby of 1400 Hermann, a building in the Museum District of Houston. Stunned, Gertsman agreed, and his first exhibit opened that December.

Philip Johnson and Houston

Art critics note that Gertsman’s work is heavily influenced by Russian constructivism, based on simple lines, lights and colors. However, he finds his methods hard to describe because they are largely based on feeling and instinct.

Gertsman’s photography revolves primarily around the work of architect Philip Johnson and includes Houston landmarks Johnson designed such as the John de Menil House, Bank of America Building, Pennzoil Place and Transco Tower. Gertsman said he was originally drawn to these structures without actually knowing their creator. Gertsman also chronicled the construction of Johnson’s Chapel of St. Basil at the University of St. Thomas and had his photos of the construction displayed in an exhibit in the lobby.

Johnson has praised Gertsman’s work. After receiving Gertsman’s book, Houston Architectural Ballade, Johnson wrote, “Welcome Gertsman’s Houston to the galaxy of Texas.”

Future endeavors

At 86 years old, Gertsman has no plans to stop his creative efforts. Since 2008, Gertsman has been following the building of Yoshio Taniguchi’s Asia House in Houston. Last year, a photo exhibition at the Russian Cultural Center in Houston titled, “Valentin Gertsman – 30 Years in Art,” ran during the month of October. He is currently working on his fourth book, which will contain his European photographs.

“Basically, all my life, in some way, I always did art,” he said, recalling a small clay Lenin head his mother claimed Gertsman created as a child. During the 1960s, he had a passion for drawing. The son of an amateur musician and painter father, Gertsman believes the talent to create art was always inside him.

“I believe that genetics can influence any talent,” Gertsman said. – by Jeff Craven

• Valentin Gertsman, MD, PhD, can be reached at the 2337 Bissonnet St., Houston, TX 77005; 713-395-3301; email: vgertsman@comcast.net.
• Disclosure: Gertsman has no relevant financial disclosures.