1906-1997, founder and chief representative of Op Art

With its colour and shape matches of the visual conception of space, the Hungary-born Victor Vasarely dominated the art scene of the 70s and 80s.

Victor Vasarely created a completely new art form, the op art (optical art) with subtle space suggestions and playing with geometric shapes. In a unique way, he combined vigorous shape and colour, always astonishing visual effects. The aim of Vasarely is to integrate the art into everyday life, and to make it accessible to everyone’s part of life.

During his studies at the so-called "Budapest Bauhaus" Vasarely became aware of the geometric shapes, Klee and Kandinsky had taught the Bauhaus masters. After the end of the Second World War Vasarely was fascinated by the pictorial language of Tachisme short period of time, soon he returned back to geometric abstraction.

Vasarely's ingenious way of suggestion of space, using squares, diamonds, ellipses, trapezoids and stripe effects based on the idea of form and colour is not considered separately, but as a unit, as a "unité plastique". He found out that the quiet abstract compositions could be translated into vibrant and colourful patterns when repeated several times, the individual geometric elements, thereby turning each to some degree or reflected. A high degree of uniformity distinguishes this work as well as a brilliant visual effect.

His designs are very popular and found in various areas, from the architecture to the fabric design, application.

Designation for the painting and sculpture detached from the representational portrayal, which spread from around 1910 in ever new style variations across the whole western and parts of the eastern world. Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky, born in 1866, is considered to be the founder of abstract art. Among other important artists of abstract art are K.S. Malewitsch, Piet Mondrian, and others.

The field of graphic arts, that includes artistic representations, which are reproduced by various printing techniques.

Printmaking techniques include woodcuts, copperplate engraving, etching, lithography, serigraphy.

Related Links:
Heliogravure
Woodcut
Copperplate engraving
Etching
Lithography
Serigraphy (Silk-screen printing)

Optical art.

Painting that programmatically puts the optical effects in the center. It is based on geometric patterns and color sequences that produce kinetic motion and flickering effects in the human eye.

One of the most famous masters of op art is the painter Victor Vasarely, who passed away in 1997.