Victor Vasarely was born in 1908 in Pecs, Hungary, and first studied to become a doctor in Budapest before devoting himself to painting in 1927. He studied art between 1928 and 1929 at the Mühely Academy under Alexander Bortnyk who had just returned from the Bauhaus in Germany where he had been much impregnated by the works of Josef Albers and Moholy-Nagy.
The Mühely Academy was thus nicknamed the Hungarian Bauhaus and Bortnyk gave his preference to the new advertising techniques which were applied in Europe at that time.
Vasarely first worked for some advertising groups in Budapest and went in 1930 to Paris where he worked for the Havas, Draeger and Devambez firms.
From 1935 until 1938 he produced several series dedicated to some themes relating to the Zebra chessboards, the tigers, the Harlequins or the Martians as he shown a keen interest in «axonometric distortions» applied to real forms, benefiting from the spectacular teachings at the Bauhaus. His aim was to create illusion in deforming lines, spheres waves and volumes and giving the impression of deepness by using cellophane sheets which were superposed in his works.
Vasarely was then much influenced by Mondrian, Malevitch, Sophie Taueber-Arp, Herbin, Léger and Delaunay and also by Cimabue, Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Georges de La Tour or Vermeer.
After the Second World War he went on to apply the principles of geometric abstraction giving to his works deep optical effects during the early 1960's.
His first one-man exhibition took place in 1946 but his works then were quite figurative with a symbolist touch. In 1947 he went on to produce abstract works under the influence of Mondrian and Magnelli with a major inclination for the use of white colour but illusion was not his concern yet.
Vasarely became much concerned with geometric forms but came to the conclusion in 1955 that everything had been done in painting, meaning that there was a need for the modern world to be confronted with a synthactical experimentation of forms and colours which could be scientifically controlled. His aim was to induce sensations as he already had done with his «Denfert» series produced between 1948 and 1961 with the assemblages of cracked ceramic tiles which resulted in the association of some obsessive images. Vasarely took part in many exhibitions in France and abroad from 1946 and published in 1955 the «Kinetic manifesto» before inventing a vocabulary made of signs and colours. From some elementary geometric figures progressively deformed and with about twenty pure colours applied according various evolving tones he went on to produce an impressive series of works with the help of several assistants and gained international stature thanks to millions of posters published throughout the world.
In 1970, it was quite fashionable for many students to have a Vasarely poster in their rooms while his works formed the basis for new researches with the help of computers at the end of the 1980's.
Vasarely became quite tempted to intensify his production during the 1970's but this meant the end of his creative powers since he relied on the mechanical multiplication of his works which made him quite a rich man.
He had invented optical illusion on a high scale but eventually in an amusing way making his works look like gimmicks. Still he had succeeded in finding a democratic destination to art via his posters and only his architectural creations at the University of Caracas, in many Parisian buildings, in the Museum of Jerusalem, the French pavilion at the Universal exhibition in Montreal in 1967 and in various French cities would contribute to remember him as the natural heir of Albers and Moholy-Nagy.
Vasarely, who died in 1997, gave optical art some incredible impetus in the 1960's and 1970's and surely paved the way to computer art, which will probably become a major and fashionable artistic expression during the early 21st Century.
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