Victor Vasarely

VICTOR VASARELY (Pécs, Hungary, 1908 - Paris, 1997).
Untitled.
Silkscreen on paper. Copy "F.V. 47/65.
Published by Circle Fine Art, 1989.
Signed and justified in pencil at the bottom.
Measurements: 109 x 60 cm.
Vasarely is based on the discovery that the deformation of a two-dimensional grid can generate a three-dimensional abstract landscape, with elevations and depressions, where the squares are transformed into rhombuses and circles into ellipses. Thus, the illusionistic effect that combines convexity and concavity with dilation and contraction, contains a thoughtful cosmic symbolism, evoking the rhythm that is born from the stars, as well as the formation of galaxies by the expansion of the universe as a whole.
Considered the father of Op Art, Victor Vasarely began his artistic training at the Muheely school, founded in Budapest by a student of the Bauhaus. He settled in Paris in 1930, where he created what is considered today as the first Op Art work, "Zebra" (1937). In Paris he worked as a graphic designer for advertising agencies. During this period his artistic style varied from figurative expression to a type of constructive and geometric abstract art, interested in the representation of perspective without vanishing points, and between 1936 and 1948 he participated regularly in the Salon des Surindependants and the Salon des Nouvelles Réalités. From 1948 he exhibited regularly at the Denise René Gallery. In the fifties his work approached the use of new materials and supports such as aluminum or glass. In the same way he began to make works of integration with space, such as Homage to Malevich. In the sixties he participated in numerous group exhibitions, such as The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as solo exhibitions in Europe and America. Among the numerous awards he received throughout his life, the Guggenheim Prize (1964), the Art Critics of Brussels and the gold medal at the Milan Triennial stand out. In 1970 he was also named Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor. He is represented in the museums dedicated to him in Aix-en-Provence, Pécs and Budapest, but also in the most important centers of contemporary art in the world, such as the Tate Gallery in London, the MoMA in New York, the Guggenheim in Venice or the Reina Sofia in Madrid.