Victor Vasarely
Born: April 9,1906
Died: March 15,1997
Today’s Lesson
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Victor Vasarely
Abstract Optical Illusion
Vasarely’s Life
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Born in Hungary
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Studied medicine before traditional painting
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In 1930 he moved to Paris where he worked as a
graphic artist and began working on his style of
abstract art.
His art came to be known as Optical Art because of
the optical illusion created by his use of contrasting
colors and geometric shapes.
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He was hailed as the creator of “Op-Art”.
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Died in Paris
Victor Vasarely’s Art
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Vasarely experimented with textural effects,
perspective, shadow and light.
He also experimented with cubistic, futuristic,
expressionistic, symbolistic and surrealistic paintings
without developing a unique style.
Finally, Vasarely found his own style of geometric
abstract art, working in various materials but using
minimal number of forms and colors.
Vocabulary Definitions
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Shape: A flat figure created when lines meet to
enclose a space. A change in color or shading can
define a shape. Shapes can be divided into several
types:
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geometric (square, triangle, circle) and
organic (irregular in outline).
Abstract: A work of art that is usually based on an
identifiable subject, but the artist leaves out the details,
simplifies or rearranges visual elements.
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Abstract works that have no identifiable subject are called
nonobjective art.
Vocabulary Definitions (cont.)
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Optical Illusion: A misleading image.
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Contrast: A large difference between two things;
for example, rough and smooth, yellow and purple,
light and shadow.
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Contrasts usually add excitement, drama and interest to
artworks.
Varsarely - The Zebras (1938)
Vasarely - Orion C (1962)
Vasarely - Arcturus II (1966)
Vasarely - Mizzar (1956-1960)
Vasarely - Chess Board (1935)
Vasarely -
Zebegan
(1964)
Zebegan (1964)
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What do you see in this painting? Do you see any objects or
people or things?
What shapes do you see in this painting? (circles and squares)
Are all other shapes the same color? Which ones are the same
color? (the circles and smaller squares)
Are there places in the painting that seem to stand out more than
other places? Where are they? (the yellow squares)
What happens if you stare at this painting for a long time? What
happens to some of the smaller shapes after you stare at the
painting? (They start to look like they are floating or moving)
Do you think the artist wanted this to happen? Do you think he
planned what colors he put on top of what and where he put each
shape?
Zebegan (cont.)
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Made up of brightly colored shapes (squares, circles,
and smaller squares)
Zebegen is an abstract painting. The artist is not
trying to paint any object or person. He is only
concerned with using shapes and colors in an
interesting way.
All the bigger squares have smaller shapes on top of
them (some are almost the same color but seem to
blend into each other)
If you look at it long enough the shapes appear to
dance around and move. This is called an optical
illusion. Our eyes are playing tricks on us.
Vasarely’s Quotes
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“Every form is a base for color, every color is the
attribute of a form.”
“Pure form – color could represent the world.”
What we will be doing
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Make different arrangements using your pre-cut
geometric shapes until you find a design and optical
effect you like.
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6
3
3
3
large red squares
blue and 3 yellow medium circles
blue and 3 yellow small squares
blue and 3 yellow small circles
Then glue the shapes in place on the mounting
paper.
Try and use ALL of the shapes you are given.