VICTOR VASARELY (1908–1997)

OVERVIEW:

Vasarely was a Hungarian-born French painter of geometric abstractions who became one of the leading figures of the OpArt movement.  Trained as an artist in Budapest in the Bauhaus tradition, he left Hungary in 1930 and settled in Paris.  He initially supported himself as a commercial artist but continued to do his own work. During the 1930s he was influenced by Constructivism, but by the 1940s his characteristic style of painting animated surfaces of geometric forms and interacting colors had emerged. His style reached maturity in the mid-1950s and 1960s, when he began using brighter, more vibrant colors to further enhance the suggestion of movement through optical illusion.   Vasarely became a naturalized French citizen in 1959. Much of his work is housed in the Vasarely Museum, at the Château de Gourdes, in Vaucluse département, southern France. In 1970 he established the Vasarely Foundation, which in 1976 took up quarters near Aix-en-Provence in a building that he designed.

 SELECTED CHRONOLOGY:

1925-27
Studies medicine at the University of Budapest. Although he decides to abandon his medical studies after two years, scientific methodology and objectivity would later influence his approach to art.

1927-29
Studies art at the Podolini-Volkmann Academy in Budapest.  

Enrolls at Alexander Bortnyik’s Mühely Academy, widely recognized as the center of Bauhaus studies in Budapest.

1930 - 1934
Moves to Paris, where he works as a graphic artist for various agencies, including Havas, and for the renowned printer Draeger. Begins his Zebra studies and engages in his first optical experiments. Marries Claire Spinner in 1931. Their first child André is born the same year. A second son, Jean-Pierre, is born in 1934.

1935 - 1945
Assembles an important body of graphic works, developing the aesthetic foundations for his plastic language. In 1944, inaugurates the Galerie Denise René in Paris with a solo-exhibition, and in 1945, participates for the first time in the Salon des Surindépendants.

1946 - 1950
Moves decidedly towards Constructivist and geometric abstract art, inspired by artists such as Malevitch, Moholy-Nagy and Walter Gropius.  Publishes his first edition of prints. Exhibits at the Salon des Surindépendants (1946), and Galerie Denis René in Paris (1948).

1951 - 1959
 Works predominantly in black and white. Develops and defines the visual elements of Op Art, the movement with which his name has become inextricably linked. In 1955 publishes his Yellow Manifesto and receives the Critics Award in Brussels and the Gold Medal at the Milan Triennial. Completes a series of murals for the University of Caracas in Venezuela, as well as several architectural integrations such as Hommage à Malevitch. Participates in numerous exhibitions such as Le Mouvement at the Galerie Denise René (1955), 50 Ans d’Art Moderne at the Palais International des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (1958), and Inaugural Selection at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York (1959). Has solo exhibitions at the Buenos Aires and Caracas museums of art (1958/59) and at Galerie Der Spiegel in Cologne (1959).

1960 - 1965
 Receives the International Guggenheim Award in New York (1964), the Grand Prix de la Gravure in Ljubljana in Slovenia (1965) as well as the Grand Prize at the VIII Art Biennale of São Paolo (1965). Also awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in Paris (1965). Participates in many group exhibitions, including Documenta III in Kassel, Germany (1964) and, most notably, The Responsive Eye at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1965). Also has numerous solo exhibitions, including shows at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (1963), the Pace Gallery in New York (1964), the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (1965) and the Kunsthalle in Bern in Switzerland (1965).

1966 - 1970
 Completes several architectural projects, including one for the French pavilion at the World Expo in Montreal (1967). Also completes two films Les Multiples and Précinetisme. Interviews of the artist by Jean-Louis Ferrier are published. Awarded Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur (1970). Numerous group exhibitions, among them Lumière et Mouvement at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville in Paris (1967) and 10 Ans d’Art vivant, 1955-65 at the Fondation Maeght (1968) in Saint Paul-de-Vence in France, as well as solo exhibitions at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York (1966 and 1968), Galerie Denise René in Paris (1969) and the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest (1969).

1971 - 1975
 Vasarely Museum opens in Gordes in France (1971). Publishes the four volumes of Plasti-cité and receives the International Art Book Award for two of the volumes in 1971 and 1975. Solo exhibitions at the Galerie Denise René (1972) and Sidney Janis Gallery (1972). Designs the set for the Racine Opera Bérenice, performed in Hungary.

1976 - 1982
 Inauguration of the Vasarely Foundation in Aix-en-Provence (1976) and the Vasarely Museum in his hometown of Pécs (1978). Solo exhibitions at the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art (1977) and the Phoenix Art Museum (1979). Creates 154 prints that are transported into space aboard the Soyuz 7 by a French-Soviet team of cosmonauts .

1983 - 1990
 Named Honorary Citizen of the City of New York and delivers a series of lectures in the United States. In France, Vasarely is named Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1985) and promoted to the rank of Grand Officier de l'Ordre du Mérite in France (1990). IVasarely Museum opens at the Zichy Palace in Budapest (1987).

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