Victor Vasarely serigraph, 1968

Victor Vasarely (1908-1997) was born Vásárely Gyözö in Pécs, Hungary, who is widely known as a leader of the Op Art movement. Before moving to Paris, Vasarely studied under the artist Sánor Bortnyik at the Mühely academy, Budapest—a Hungarian equivalent to the German Bauhaus. In 1930, he moved to Paris where he worked in advertising while pursuing his graphic arts career for the next decade. It was only after World War II and the success of his first important Paris exhibition at the Galerie Denise René, Paris, in 1944, that Vasarely left the graphic arts to begin crafting his signature style of pure abstraction in painting. Vasarely was the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Guggenheim Prize in New York (1964); the Grand prix at the São Paulo Biennial and the Grand prix de la gravure in Ljubljana, Slovenia (both 1965); and the French Chevalier de l'ordre de la Légion d'honneur (1970). He was widely influential for later artists, especially those of GRAV (Groupe de recherche d'art visuel) (Research in Visual Arts Group) in the 1960s.