Cite as:
Wade N J, 2004, "Vasarely's vision" Perception 33 ECVP Abstract Supplement

Vasarely's vision

N J Wade

Victor Vasarely was born in Pécs in 1908. He studied at the Bauhaus Budapest in 1929 and moved to Paris in the following year. He died, a French citizen, in Paris in 1997. Vasarely is considered to be one of the founders of Op Art. From the 1940s he produced black-and-white geometrical designs that rendered vibrant a variety of visual phenomena that are usually overlooked. These included Hermann - Hering grids, border contrast, contrast reversals, depth ambiguities, and manipulations of Gestalt grouping effects. He also produced moiré patterns from the interference between geometrical designs printed on transparent and opaque surfaces. Vasarely explored a range of chromatic contrast phenomena in producing the shimmering appearances of his paintings. He was a prominent exhibitor in The Responsive Eye exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1965. Many of his large works, as well as his early ones, can be seen at the Vasarely Múzeum, Budapest. In contrast to his subtle amplifications of minor visual effects, his written descriptions of his works were virtually impenetrable. He should be celebrated as an intuitive visual scientist rather than a theorist of art.

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