Victor Vasarely - vendere e comprare opere
9 April 1906, Pécs (Hungary) - 15 March 1997, Paris (France)
The painter and graphic artist Victor Vasarely, who died in 1997, is one of the founders of Op-Art, and is one of its most important representatives, alongside artists like Jesús Rafael Soto, Yaacov Agam and Josef Albers.
Born in Pécs, Hungary, in 1906, Vasarely started his artistic training at the Podolini-Volkmann Academy, a private school of drawing in Budapest, before Sándor Bortnyik introduced him to the Bauhaus concept. In his early years as an artist, the works of Josef Albers and Wassily Kandinsky had a lasting impression on him.
He moved to Paris in 1930, where he lived until his death in 1997.
To start with, he worked as a graphic artist, produced zebra studies and carried out his initial optical experiments. He then turned away from figurative painting and developed his unmistakable style: optical image patterns paired with kinetic effects.
He married Claire Spinner in 1931, and their son Jean Pierre was born in 1934. Jean Pierre became known as an artist under the name “Yvaral”.
From the mid-1940s onwards, Vasarely presented his works in Paris for the first time. In the decades that followed, he showed his art around the world as part of exhibitions.
His most well-known projects include his black and white creations, the “plastic alphabet” and “Vegas”.
His works are to be found in numerous collections held by international cultural institutions, such as Chicago’s Art Institute or London’s Tate Gallery.
“Art for all” was his motto. In the 1970s and 80s two museums dedicated to the artist were opened in Hungary - one in Pécs and one in Zichy Castle in Budapest.
Works by Victor Vasarely have been sold at Dorotheum auctions for many years. On 24 Mai 2023, his painting “972 Olla” from 1986 sold for € 221,000.