Victor Vasarely

Victor Vasarely (real name Győző Vásárhelyi; 1906, Pécs – 1997, Paris) was a Hungarian-French painter and graphic artist, widely regarded as the creator and „grandfather” of op-art. After a short period of medical studies he trained at the Műhely school in Budapest (the so-called Budapest Bauhaus), where he came into contact with Constructivism, and from 1930 he worked in Paris as a graphic artist. His work „Zebra” (1937) is regarded as one of the first works of op-art.

Vasarely strove to create a universal, ideology-free language based on the mathematical-physical laws of vision. His colour-pulsating, illusionist compositions, from the „black-and-white” period to the two-colour works, evoke an impression of movement, undulation and vibration. In 1955 he announced the „Manifeste Jaune” with the notion of „kinetic plasticity”. Repeatedly awarded (including the Guggenheim International Award, 1964; the Legion of Honour, 1970), he was given his own museums in Budapest and Aix-en-Provence. He is regarded as a precursor of the era of computer graphics.