Some are not acquainted with the name "Victor Vasarely", but most of us have seen his spectacular, eye opening and mind altering paintings and prints. It's as if they have become part of our daily life as if it could out of thin air. However, his works should not be underestimated. He manage to capture through out his career the beauty of aesthetics and the power of maths, the love for geometrical exactitude and that color balance that is sometimes so hard for a painters to achieve, all to produce mind blowing 3D perception of space while in a 2D surface. To correct myself, he did make 3D sculptures, but these did not have the same appealing effect that his paintings did. "Op-Art" is not a limit. It's beyond the limit of constraints. It's the ability to communicate with the viewer, as he or she engages in this illusion, it's the hesitation of seeing one thing or the other, if there are movements, vibrations, patterns, swelling or warping of elements.
This is what I saw at The Vasarely Museum in Budapest, in Hungary, his native country. The works were donated in the 80s by himself, and are exhibited year round. These are originals and you can find out more about the establishment on this link: http://www.vasarely.tvn.hu/
Now, here are some pictures.
Enjoy!
This is part of his earlier works. He was prolific as a commercial designer, and that the time, he used to make ads for products. This is a shadow study. Dates from the 1920/30s.
Those famous Zebras. This is considered the beginning of Optical Art. It dates from 1939 and was made on cardboard and painted with tempera. In his beginnings, he thought the use of black and white was the best choice to implement in this new art form. Later, he became a fan of colors as he managed to achieve far better results in color.
Hands.
I didn't write down names...sorry.
Smile :)
Pictures were taken for personal use only. These will not be commercialized, and it is not my intent to do so. If you use any of these please mention the Vasarely Museum in Budapest.
