TIGERS

Victor Vasarely (1906–1997) was a Hungarian-French painter, graphic artist, and sculptor. He grew up in Slovenia, but spent most of his life in France. He built upon the geometric abstraction of František Kupka and Kazimir Malevich and transformed it into a new direction: op-art, or optical art.

Using geometric shapes and colorful graphics, he created impressive illusions of spatial depth. Vasarely's painting technique also drew from a number of influences, including Bauhaus design principles and constructivism.

Early in his artistic career, Vasarely experimented with light and shadow, and his favorite color was black. The result of this early graphic period included works such as Zebras (1937), Chessboard (1935), and Girl-power (1934).

He chose colors with mathematical precision – his goal was to create optical illusions and deceive the human eye. Victor Vasarely's work influenced not only architecture and advertising art, but also decorative art and fashion.

In fine art, he is considered one of the representatives of kinetic art and op-art, a movement that uses knowledge from geometry and optics. He died at the age of 90 on March 15, 1997, in Paris, France.