Victor Vasarely

The collection reflects Vasarely’s ability to see the world through a prism, translating shapes and forms into a set of basic “art elements,” which he captured and then used to convey his messages through his stunning images.
Every creator worthy of the name lives two lives: one is contemporary and the other is in the future survival of this work.

Victor Vasarely is considered the leader of Op Art (opticokinetic art) a mathematically themed form of abstract art which was developed in the early 1960’s with an aim to stimulating the eye through the radical use of shapes and colors. Vasarely’s innovations in optical illusion and kinetic art have inspired many contemporary artists.

The collection reflects Vasarely’s ability to see the world through a prism, translating shapes and forms into a set of basic “art elements,” which he captured and then used to convey his messages through his stunning images. As a result, we too see in his works these universal elements and can easily identify with them.

Exhibits

150 relatively large frames.

Highlights

Signed serigraphs, original watercolors, early advertising original acrylics.

Exhibition Materials

High resolution images, captions, wall texts.

Display

About 110 – 125 linear meters (350 – 400 linear feet) for the entire collection depending on how the works are installed.

Catalogue

Catalog design available in Adobe InDesign format.

Characteristics

  • Geographic location of storage: U.S.A. (north-east).
  • All works are shipped framed as per international museum standards.
  • Collection includes the necessary international shipping crates and packing materials ensuring safe ‘nail to nail” transport.
  • Collection is comprehensive, covering a substantial part of the artist’s body of work making it capable of serving as a stand-alone exhibition.
  • Museum curators are provided with extensive information and may curate the exhibition to their specifications.
  • Collection may be expanded or complemented with art from the borrowing museum’s own collections.
  • Collection provides endless opportunities for the development of educational programs, which we can assist with.

Victor Vasarely

Victor Vasarely (1906-1997) was a French – Hungarian artist, internationally recognized as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He is the acknowledged leader of the Op Art movement, and his innovations in colour and optical illusion have had a strong influence on many modern artists. His paintings are in the permanent collections of many important museums around the world.

Vasarely was born in Pecs, Hungary in 1906. In 1925, he began studying art at the Podolini-Volkmann Academy in Budapest. In 1928, he transferred to the Muhely Academy, also known as the Budapest Bauhaus. After his first one-man show in 1930, at the Kovacs Akos Gallery in Budapest, Vasarely moved to Paris and for the next thirteen years, he devoted himself to graphic studies. In 1943, Vasarely began to work extensively in oils, creating both abstract and figurative canvases. During the 1960’s and 70’s his optical images became part of the popular culture, having a deep impact on architecture, computer science, fashion, and the way we now look at things in general.

His lifelong fascination with linear patterning led him to draw figurative and abstract patterned subjects, such as his series of harlequins, checkers, tigers, and zebras. The breakthrough brought by his “kinetic” visual experiments transformed the flat surface into a world of unending possibilities, book marking an era in the history of art and foreshadowing a new global reality shaped by programming and the Internet.

Vasarely died in Paris, in 1997, at the age of ninety one. Even though he achieved great fame he insisted on making his art accessible to everyone.

His motto was “Art for all”.

Read More Read Less
Related Exhibitions