Art Masterpiece: “Vega Kontosh” Victor Vasarely

Keywords: , Geometric, , Color and Three Dimensional

Grade: 6th

Activity: Creating Op Art Hands!

Meet the Artist:

Victor Vasarely was born in in 1908. He liked to draw trains and nature as a child, but entered medical school after leaving high school. Two years later, because of political upheaval, classes at the university closed, and Vasarely never returned to medical school. Instead, he entered an academy to study art. He had some success as a poster artist and graphic artist, but felt stifled in Hungary and in 1930 he moved to , . He married an artist, Claire Spinner. Together they designed prints for a fabric manufacturer. Vasarely became known as the originator of Op Art, Optical Art. Op Art was an abstract art movement of the 1960s. It showed the various optical effects achieved through retinal stimulation. Vasarely was a master of this technique. People say he could give a an optical approach to “abstract art” that lent an essentially human dimension to the otherwise coldly rational art of . Victor Vasarely is internationally recognized as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He wanted to create art that everyone could enjoy, whether young or old, male or female! His innovations in color and optical illusion have had a strong influence on many modern artists. Although the shapes in this piece are geometric, not natural, Victor was inspired by nature…“Vega is a distant star well known by everyone; this composition expresses the expansion of the Universe”. Most of his pieces that show an expansion or “stretching” begin with the word “Vega” in their title.

Victor was remembered by his friends as a very warm, funny, charming, intelligent man. He had a child-like innocence and wonderment toward both people and the world around him. Vasarely’s works are included in almost every major museum in the world. Major museums in Aix-en Provence, France and Pecs, Hungary and a wing of the Zichy Palace, Hungary, are devoted exclusively to his work. He died in 1997 at the age of 89.

P.S. 2013-2014

Activity: Op-Art Hands

Supplies:

 9”x12” White Construction Paper  Pencils  Fine-Tip Black Sharpies  Colored Pencils (3 per student, students choice)

Process:

Step 1: Trace your hand, and part of arm lightly using a pencil. Do this step as lightly as possible because your original outline of your hand should not show when finished

Step 2: Using a thin black Sharpie, start adding your lines. Start at the edge of the page where your arm is. Draw a straight line from the outer edge of paper(left of arm), then as you reach the arm, draw a curved line on the arm and then straight line continuing across to the opposite edge for the background. Encourage students to start by using a pencil for the first four or five lines until they get the hang of it, and then use the marker to add the rest of the lines.

Tips:

 Make sure your curved lines line up with the straight line of the background  Do NOT trace your outline with the black marker.  Place your lines close together. If there is too much space between your lines it will not look like the hand is popping off the page.

Step 3: Continue adding lines and moving up the paper towards the top of the page where the fingers are. When doing the area between the fingers, curve your lines in the opposite direction (of finger curves) instead of trying to add straight lines there.

Step 4: The most difficult part of this project is ending the fingers. It may be difficult to find a way to get back to straight lines at the top once you are past the finger tips, try to flatten out your line as much as possible so it no longer matches the curve of the fingers.

Step 5: Choose three colored pencils, using a color scheme, and alternate colors between your black lines. A monochromatic color scheme is used in the example. Also a graduation of colors (dark to light) helps the hand pop off the page. Finally, finish by using a kneaded eraser to lift some of the color off the top ridges of the fingers, hand, and arm to show depth.

P.S. 2013-2014

Example of Project

P.S. 2013-2014