Victor Vasarely
b. 1906, Hungary
d. 1997
Victor Vasarely was born on April 9, 1906, in Pécs, Hungary.
In 1927, after studying medicine at the Budapest University for two years, he left school to devote himself to art. In 1929 he enrolled at Mühely, a school founded by Alexandre Bortnyik and based on the principles of the Dessau Bauhaus. It was during this time that he first encountered Constructivism and Abstract Art. In 1930 he moved to Paris, where he started to work as a graphic designer. During his first graphic period (1929-1946), Vasarely laid the foundations for his future artistic practice. Between 1935 and 1947 the artist rediscovered painting. Influenced by Cubism and Surrealism, he focused on portrait, landscape, and still life. His works dating from the “Belle-Isle” period (1947–1958) marked his passage into abstraction through the use of natural materials. The “Denfert” period (1951-1958) gave rise to peculiar designs inspired by the walls of the Denfert-Rochereau Métro station in Paris. Works from the “Cristal-Gordes” period (1948–1958) were characterized by a juxtaposition of contrasting, brightly coloured shapes, while in his work from the “Black and White” period (1950-1965), Vasarely revisited his former graphic tendencies. In 1955 he exhibited with several other representatives of the Kinetic Art movement at Denise René Gallery in Paris and the same year published his “Manifeste Jaune.” In 1965 he took part in Responsive Eye, an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, dedicated to Optical Art. Vasarely continued to explore movement and perception, and in his so-called “Vonal” period (1964–1970) he went back to drawing, combining the linear and graphic themes of his “Black and White” period with a new exploration of colour. His “Vega” period began in 1968, at which time he deformed the compositional elements to create the optical illusion of a dilated painted surface. In 1976 he founded the Vasarely Foundation in Aix-en-Provence, affirming his belief that art should be linked to its social context and environment.
The artist passed away in Paris on 15 March 1997.