Summer Art Trip (FR): Aix-En-Provence: Fondation Vasarely
Aix-En-Provence: Fondation Vasarely
Father of Op Art
Victor Vasarely (1906–1997), a Hungarian-French artist, is hailed as the father of Op. Art. He created a distinctive visual language rooted in geometric abstraction and optical illusions.
Vasarely believed art should be accessible to all through public spaces, architecture, and design. This belief and vision have come to life with the construction of Fondation Vasarely in 1976. Only after the visit, can one fathom his vision and mastery.
His wife, Claire Spinner Vasarely (1908 -1990), who gave up her successful art career to support promoting his vision and to co-organize his projects. Together, they created many projects that bridged art and society. (image 2 below: A retrospective exhibition runs till 16.2.2026 finally brings Claire Vasarely’s work to the forefront)
Even today, the Fondation is worth visiting for its timeless interplay of light, color, and form—proof that Vasarely’s visionary design can remain up-to-date decades after its creation.
(Image: Self-Portrait by Victor Vasarely. Photo by CT Arts. Courtesy of the Artist Estate)
Vasarely’s Art
Vasarely attended Muhëly, a Bauhaus school in Budapest in 1929, and the impact of Bauhaus teaching has proven to be immensely significant in Vasarely’s concept of art and his oeuvre.
His work is characterized by precise and repetitive forms and patterns, combining with vibrant color contrasts that create a dynamic sense of movement and optical/ spatial ambiguity.
His signature style, which he dedicated over 7 decades of his life to developed and enhanced, is characterized by optical illusions and geometric abstraction, which has gained a significant chapter in the art history and our society at large.
Varasely’s art and its aesthetics morphed and matured in different periods:
His “Etudes Bauhaus” series in 1929 - he started playing with basic geometric abstraction and spatial organization. These experiments continued for the next 2 decades.
The "Planetary Folklore” period in the 60s - his canvases were bursting with bright colors, combined with a more detailed layout of forms to create optical illusions. The experimentation with colors and the examination of color theory clearly came to the forefront.
His later development of kinetic art in the 70s and onwards - he explored and created complex optical illusions in 3D and movement through transforming simple geometric shapes—squares, circles, and hexagons—into incredibly complex compositions that seemed to vibrate and challenges how viewers perceive depth and movement.
Recommended Exhibition: CLAIRE VASARELY, UNE VIE DANS LA COULEUR (14.6.2025- 15.2.2026)
All images: taken by City Transit Arts, except otherwise specified. Courtesy of Fondation Vasarely and the artist estate.
