Victor Vasarely Hungarian-French, 1906-1997

The inventor of kinetic art, Victor Vasarely's work occupies a unique moment in the history of 20th-century art. Achieving fame during his lifetime, he distinguished himself in contemporary art by creating a new trend: Op Art.

In 1929, he enrolled at the Mühëly, known as the Budapest equivalent of the Bauhaus. This school, founded by Alexander Bortnyik and modeled after the Bauhaus in Dessau, incorporated the teachings of artists such as Walter Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Josef Albers from Germany. The influence of Bauhaus teaching would be considerable in Vasarely's work, as he became familiar with the principles of abstract art and constructivism.

Vasarely had a true revelation: that "pure form and pure color can signify the world..." The foundations of a universal plastic alphabet, of a modular, combinatorial art accessible to all, were already laid. In 1944, the artist exhibited for the first time at the Denise René Gallery in Paris, which would become the cradle of Op Art and kinetic art. He exhibited with artists such as Duchamp, Man Ray, Calder, Tinguely, and Agam, conducting research around the theme of movement. In 1955, in his Young Manifesto, Vasarely defined the concept of "kinetic plastic art." The 1960s saw color explode in the artist's work, with the "Planetary Folklore" series: The plastic unity is revisited, "composed of two geometric elements that fit together, combine, and permute." “With these two-tone units, in powerful or contrasting shades, the artist invented his Plastic Alphabet, which embodies an idea dating back to the beginning of the century among abstract artists: to develop a method for creating a universal language understandable by all.

This plastic alphabet would become the starting point for a collective art. Through combinations and permutations, a multitude of possibilities became available by combining the forms and nuances of the color ranges defined by the artist.

“The advent in visual art of a combinatorics of this magnitude offers a tool
with a universal character, while allowing for the expression of individual personality
as well as ethnic particularities.” In this combinatorial art, the elements
can be codified or programmed. Vasarely used new techniques and
technologies to diversify and compose works endlessly.” Thus, the elements
can be prefabricated using industrial processes, and the works will be
monumental, integrated into the architecture and our urban environment.

In 1965, he participated in the "Responsive Eye" exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, dedicated to Op Art. This movement sought to suggest movement without ever truly realizing it. It established new relationships between viewers and the artwork by provoking the active participation of the viewer. The viewer is free to interpret the image in as many visual situations as they can conceive. Thanks to the success of this new trend, the press and the public hailed Vasarely as the inventor of "Op Art."