VICTOR VASARELY (1906-1997)
Victor Vasarely (I906-1997) is 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 color and optical illusion have had a strong influence on many modern artists.
In 1947, Vasarely discovered his place
in abstract art. Influenced by his experiences at Breton Beach
of Belle Isle, he concluded that "internal geometry"
could be seen below the surface of the entire world. He conceived
that form and color are inseparable. "Every form is a base
for color, every color is the attribute of a form." Forms
from nature were thus transposed into purely abstract elements
in his paintings. Recognizing the inner geometry of nature, Vasarely
wrote, "the ellipsoid form ... will slowly, but tenaciously,
take hold of the surface, and become its raison d'etre. Henceforth,
this ovoid form will signify in all my works of this period,
the 'oceanic feeling'...l can no longer admit an inner world
and another, an outer world, apart. The within and the without
communicate by osmosis, or, one might rather say: the spatial-material
universe, energetic-living, feeling-thinking, form a whole, indivisible
... The languages of the spirit are but the super vibrations
of the great physical nature."
Vasarely was born in Pecs, Hungary in 1906.
After receiving his baccalaureate degree 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, where he studied with Alexander Bortnijik. At the Academy,
he became familiar with the contemporary research in color and
optics by Jaohannes ltten, Josef Albers, and the Constructivists
Malevich and Kandinsky.
After his first one-man show in 1930, at
the Kovacs Akos Gallery in Budapest, Vasarely moved to Paris.
For the next thirteen years, he devoted himself to graphic studies.
His lifelong fascination with linear patterning led him to draw
figurative and abstract patterned sub .ects, such as his series
of harlequins, checkers, tigers, and
zebras. During this period, Vasarely also created multi-dimensional
works of art by super-imposing patterned layers on one another
to attain the illusion of depth.
In 1943, Vasarely began to work extensively
in oils, creating both abstract and figurative canvases. His
first Parisian exhibition was the following year at the Galerie
Denise Rene that he helped found. Vasarely became the recognized
leader of the avant-garde group of artists affiliated with the
gallery.
During the 1950's, Vasarely wrote a series of manifestos on the
use of optical phenomena for artistic purposes. Together with
his paintings, these were a significant influence on younger
artists. According to the artist, "In the last analysis,
the picture-object in pure composition appears to me as the last
link in the family paintings,' still possessing by its shining
beauty, an end in itself. But it is already more than a painting,
the forms and colors which compose it are still situated on the
plane, but the plastic event which they trigger fuses in front
of and in the plane. It is an end, but also a beginning, a kind
of launching pad for future achievements."
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