Op Art
1960-1965
Op art (Optical art) is an abstract art based on mathematics. Usually,
simple forms are repeated and along with colors often to create
vibrating effects or what is called a moire (more-ay) pattern (French
meaning wavy or watered appearance).
Victor Vasarely
1908 – 1997
Hungarian French artist
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Victor was born in Hungary on April 9th, 1908
He is known as the founder of optical art.
In 1925, Vasarely was accepted to the University of Budapest’s School of Medicine.
Two years later, in 1927, he changed directions completely and decided to pursue
a career in art.
For the next two years, Vasarely studied traditional academic painting at the private
Podolini-Volkmann Academy.
In 1929, he enrolled in The Bauhaus Muhely Academy where he was influenced by the
goals of the original Bauhaus. The basic concepts of the teaching were that all
the arts and crafts and architecture should achieve a unity of purpose based on
the cube, the rectangle and the circle.
In 1930, Vasarely moved to Paris (the center of the art world at this time) and was
successful as a graphic designer.
In 1954, Vasarely began designing murals of metal and ceramic, mainly for buildings
in France.
He also designed the official spiral-shaped logo of the 20th Olympic games in Munich.
Budapest, Hungary
Vasarely’s graphic studies of the 1930’s were
inspired by his fascination with linear patterning. He
drew figurative and abstract patterned subjects, such
as harlequins, checkers, tigers, and zebras. During
this period, Vasarely also created multi-dimensional
works of art by super-imposing patterned layers of
cellophane on one another to attain the illusion of
depth.
In the 40’s, Vasarely explored the optical and
emotional scope of different graphic techniques
leading to his understanding that geometric forms
could evoke a sensory perception conveying new
ideas of space, matter and energy.
Vasarely was inspired by the Belle-Isle coastal landscape
where he noted pebbles and shells on the coast and how
the sun became flattened as it set over the sea.
He learned that pure form and relationships could signify
the world. One can see the sun, the clouds, the pebbles
and the waves thus creating a feeling of the ocean
through abstracted forms.
Between 1951 and 1958 Victor continued working with
geometric shapes and also began to paint predominantly in
black and white. His black and white linear compositions were
inspired by studies in Geography of the 1920's (isobar lines),
photography and his use of positive and negative.
Vega, named after the
brightest star in the
constellation Lyra, is a
checkerboard made up
of squares. As the
lines bend the squares
become distorted
causing the surface to
appear to move –
expanding, contracting
and undulating.
Vega - Victor Vasarely 1957
Acrylic on canvas 195x130cm
Vasarely’s artwork of the 60’s was inspired by
color, form, along with his studies in line and how
these elements create movement.
Alphabet VB - Victor Vasarely
1960 Acrylic on canvas
160x150cm
Bora III - Victor Vasarely
1964 Oil on canvas
149x141cm
Over the coming years Vasarely created several distinct
series of works which were to cement his status.
1. ‘Vonal’ series – where he revisited his earlier
line studies and graphic work
but this time in full use of
color.
2. ‘Vega’ series – paintings based on spherical
distortions
3. ‘Gestalt’ series – a series of 3-d shapes
composed of cubes that
confuse the viewer visually
‘Vonal’ Series
Continuing his studies on motion and perception, Vasarely goes back to the
drawing board during his Vonal period [1964-1970] when linear work on
zebras, grids and the origins of his black & white period reappears, this time
with color. A kinetic element and a spatial dimension are added with
repeating lines which decrease in proportion as the viewer looks into the
center of the piece.
‘Vonal’ Series
In Vonal-Stri, the feeling of
movement and depth are
created using lines of
decreasing scale advancing
towards the center of the
canvas – the further in we
look to the center, the
further away the field
appears to be from us. The
use of changing colors
across the field also serves
to provide the viewer with
the feeling of kinetic
energy, depth and space.
‘Vega’ Series
In 1968, playing with the
distortion of lines, Vasarely
defined his “universal
structures” and enlisted in
the popular “Vega” period in
which the swelling caused by
the deformation of elements
results in forms that appear
to bulge out from the piece
and create spectacular
volumes. Through such
works as “Feny” (1963),
“Vega Tek” (1968) and “Vega
200” (1968), the artist
evokes the elusive universe.
The ‘Vega’ paintings are
based on spherical
distortions to a
polychromatic grid. The
surface appears to have
been warped, giving the
feeling of something trying
either to break out or to
recede back into the depths
of the surface.
Vega-Nor - Victor Vasarely 1969 Acrylic on
Canvas 200x200cm
‘Vega’ Series
‘Gestalt’ Series
The paintings in this series
are characterized by solid, yet
ethereal and seemingly
impossible three-dimensional
shapes composed of cubes
and cellular structures that
confuse the viewer visually.
Keple-Gestalt - Victor Vasarely, 1968
Acrylic on canvas 160x160cm
Vasarely makes full use of
variations in color to further
the illusion of space, light,
and structure.
‘Gestalt’ Series
Gestalt, 1980
Gestalt-Rugo, 1978
The third series crosses over into Vasarely’s
fascination with the hexagon. He created a series of
paintings – ‘Homage to the Hexagon’ in parallel with the
Gestalt series.
ION 10, 1969
In the mid-late 60’s, Vasarely’s
style is characterized by deep
undulating surfaces, gradual color
modulations, checker board grids,
hexagon grids, and octagon grids.
Galaxie - 1979 Victor Vasarely
Vancouver II
• Vasarely became internationally known in 1965 when he exhibited at “The Responsive
Eye” exhibition in New York’s Museum of Modern art and was invited to show at
numerous major galleries and museums around the world.
• In 1976, Victor founded the Foundation Vasarely in Aix-en-Provence, France.
The center thrives on the innovation and creativity of the future, focusing on
science, computers and new technologies.
• The Vasarely Museum was also opened in 1976 in Pecs, Hungary and a second
museum in 1987 in Budapest, Hungary.
Bridget Riley
1931British painter
• Riley studied art at Goldsmiths College and later at the Royal College of Art
where she received her B.A. in 1955.
• Her style was inspired by the pointillism of Georges Seurats’ landscapes and led
her to an interest in optical effects. Victor Vasarely was another influence
in the use of his black and white designs. She also saw a large Jackson
Pollock exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London that deeply
impressed her and her work.
• In the late 50’s, Riley painted in black and white creating paintings of straight
or wavy lines that gave the illusion of movement or color.
• Her first solo show was in London in 1962 and in 1965 she exhibited in the New
York City show called The Responsive Eye.
• At the end of the 60’s, she was using a full range of color expanding to a wider
range of color in the late 70’s after a trip to Egypt where she saw colorful
hieroglyphic decorations.
• In 1968, she exhibited in the Venice Biennial where she won the International
Prize for painting.
• In 1983, Riley designed the interior of the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Movement in Squares, 1961
Tempera on board,
48"x47"
In Movement in Squares, a
sequence of shapes - squares in
this case – proceeds from left to
right. Their height remains
constant while their width is
diminished. This structural
contraction creates the
sensation of a temporary
disturbance that is resolved by a
partial return to the stable
square. Disrupting a regular
progression in this way has an
emotional significance. Riley saw
her intention as making a
statement about ‘stabilities and
instabilities, certainties and
uncertainties.
Blaze 1, 1962
The extreme contrast
between black and white
causes some works of this
period to give off an almost
aggressive energy. These
paintings produce strong
optical sensations in the
viewer.
The progress of Riley’s work was spurred on by a
growing awareness of the visual energies hidden
in the shapes she was using. She gave reign to
the way the structures she was creating tended
to destabilize, dissolving into intense, unsettling
perceptual experiences.
In Blaze I , Riley has designed
a spiral structure using
repeated diagonal black and
white lines. By reducing the
thickness of the lines toward
the center of the image, she
has created a dizzying illusion
of depth and movement.
Pause, 1964
In Pause, black circles are
gradually compressed into
grayish ovals, as if they were
being sucked into a 3-D
warp near the center
of the picture plane. To
create this illusion, Riley
established a geometric unit
– here a circle - and
repeated it to build a
pattern.
She then introduced subtle
variations of form and
gradation to create visual
tension.
White Discs, 1964
If you focus on this image
with a steady gaze, after a
while your eyes will invent
the white discs referred to in
the title as afterimages,
floating above the white
background. An afterimage
is an optical illusion that
happens when the part of
your eye that perceives color
becomes so tired that it sees
the opposite of the
original color.
Arrest 1, 1965
Cataract 3, 1967
In 1966, Riley began using
color to express calmer
feelings.
In Cataract 3, wavy gray
bands gradually separate
into their warmer and
cooler tones.
Toward the center of the
canvas, they become a pair
of blue and red stripes. The
rippling waves of color
create a rhythmic, restful
sense of motion.
Shadow Play, 1990 Throughout the late 60s and 70s Riley
introduced more and more color into her
work. During a trip to Egypt in 1979/80, she
was captivated by the paintings in the
Royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings. She
discerned five vital colors - brick-red, ochre
yellow, blue, turquoise and yellow green –
which for the next five years would
dominate her palette, in a series of
paintings that consisted solely of vertical
stripes.
From 1985 these stripes began to be
broken up by diagonal hatching, creating a
sense of depth. The painting here, Shadow
Play, makes use of both the vertical stripe
and the diagonal. Dark blue lozenges
contrast sharply with lighter pinks and
yellows. There is a sense of light and
shadow, as the title suggests.
Nataraja, 1993
Nataraja is a term from Hindu mythology meaning 'Lord of the Dance'.
In this painting, vertical bands of color are cut across by diagonals,
creating a sense of dynamic movement through intricate rhythm and
counter-rhythm.
Blue Dominance. Red Dominance.
Green Dominance. 1997 Screenprint
Left to right:
Riley is interested in visual
effects, commenting:
The eye can travel over the
surface in a way parallel to
the way it moves over
nature. It should feel
caressed and soothed,
experience frictions and
ruptures, glide and drift.
One moment, there will be
nothing to look at and the
next second the canvas
seems to refill, to be
crowded with visual events.
Carnival, 2000 Silkscreen, 28 3/4" x 36"