Harold Gretzner was born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 3, 1902. Gretzner received his early art education in Washington, DC and completed his academic work at the California College of Arts and Crafts. While commuting daily to his home in Oakland, he was a commercial artist in San Francisco from the 1920s until his retirement in the 1960s. He used the wet-on-wet technique to create Regionalist scenes of the San Francisco Bay area and the Monterey Coast. He exhibited throughout Northern California and won many awards at Alameda County Fairs, California State Fairs, and Lodi Grape Festivals. During the last decade of his life, he traveled and painted in the Far East and Europe. Gretzner died in Oakland on September 19, 1977.

Member: California Watercolor Society; American Watercolor Society; West Coast Watercolor Society; Society of Western Artists; Oakland Art Association; and Santa Rosa Art Guild.

Source: Artists in California: 1786-1940, Edan Hughes