Victor Vasarely

Victor Vasarely, born in 1908 in Hungary, is considered one of the key figures behind the Op Art movement with his innovative art focusing on contrasting colors and optical illusions. Taught by László Moholy-Nagy, he came into contact with the works of Kandinsky, Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Mondrian, as well as the functionalism of the Bauhaus, which also had a strong influence on him. In 1930, Vasarely moved to Paris, where he worked successfully as a graphic designer and systematically explored the optical and emotional range of various graphic techniques. This led to a deeper understanding of geometric form and its ability to evoke a sensory perception of space, matter, and energy. Vasarely developed his own form of geometric abstraction, which he varied infinitely, creating different optical patterns with kinetic effects. He believed that color and form were inseparable, and geometric shapes were arranged in fluorescent colors in such a way that the eye perceived a fluctuating movement. Vasarely himself summarized this approach with the words: "Every shape is the foundation of a color, every color is an attribute of a shape." In this way, shapes from nature were transferred into purely abstract elements in his paintings.

The auctions work, "KONDOR," is characterized by the typical features of Vasarely's Op Art paintings: the hypnotic colors and distorted surfaces. The composition captivates the viewer, and the gaze follows the distorted perspective with great speed. Through the skillful use of circles and squares combined with bright contrasting colors, a vibrant trompe l’oeil-like dimensionality is conveyed.