Victor Vasarely Hungarian-French, 1906-1997

Victor Vasarely was born in Pécs, Hungary in 1906. He left his studies in medicine to train in academic painting at the Podolini-Volkmann Academy, later attending the Bauhaus Muhely in Budapest. In 1930 he moved to Paris to work as a commercial artist, developing his signature style of geometric art over the next thirty years.

During the 1960s and 70s, Vasarely’s distinctive abstract patterns inspired designs in architecture and fashion, as well as leading to developments in computer science. Interested in the promotion of ‘art for all’, he established the Fondation Vasarely in 1966. Located in Aix en Provence, France, the museum was constructed according to Vasarely’s designs, filled with his works and inaugurated in 1976. Considered to be the Father of Op-Art, Vasarely’s use of perceptual abstraction and impact on popular culture makes him one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.

Vasarely died in Paris, in 1997.