Russian-born Gussow trained at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design. He also studied under Bonnat at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His first claim to fame was exhibiting two works at the Armory Show in 1913. Gussow exhibited at the Society of Independent Artists between 1917 and 1934 and at Salons of America in the 1930s.The Whitney Museum of American Art, for example, has his Subway Stairs. The Barnes Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art also have his paintings. Gussow even participated in the Federal Art Project, contributing a post office mural (Recreation Hours) in East Rochester, NY.