Victor VASARELY

Victor VASARELY (1906 - 1997)

Victor Vasarely is a Franco-Hungarian artist considered to be at the origin of the Op Art or optical art movement, which Bridget Riley and Yaacov Agam will join. Vasarely's paintings and sculptures use geometric shapes and colorful graphics to create illusions of spatial depth on two-dimensional surfaces. This abstract method of painting, also known as kinetic art, borrows from the principles of Bauhaus, Wassily Kandinsky and constructivism, which will have a great impact on his work. Born Vásárhelyi Gyozo on April 9, 1906 in Pécs, Hungary, the artist first studied medicine, then turned to painting two years later. Vasarely attended the Hungarian branch of the Bauhaus (Muhely) in Budapest in the late 1920s. After moving to Paris in 1930, Vasarely worked as a graphic artist and developed his practice of geometric abstract art. He lived and worked in Paris until his death at the age of 90 on March 15, 1997.