Artist 46: Victor Vasarely

Victor Vasarely was born in Hungary in 1906.  His art can be classified as Op art.  In 1925 he began his medical studies at Budapest University but two years later he gave up on medicine to study painting.  In 1928 he enrolled at Sandor Bortnyik’s workshop and in 1930 he marries a fellow student.  After his time at the workshop he worked at a ball-bearing company, in accounting and designing posters for advertising.  In the 1930s Vasarely became a graphic designer and a poster artist.  He combined patterns and organic images in his designs.  When he got married he moved from Hungary to Paris to work as a graphic artist and a creative consultant at different advertising agencies.  Vasarely went on to create sculptures and other works that focused on optical illusion.  He developed his personal style of geometric abstract art; he used various materials but a very limited number of forms and colors.  Throughout his years he tried his hand at several types of art including a large kinematic form, industrial design and serigraphs.  In March of 1997 Vasarely died at the age of 90 in Paris.