Today (May 23), we visited the Vasarely Museum on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of Victor Vasarely’s birth, who is also close to our hearts because he was born in Pécs. We can encounter many of his works throughout Pécs. 2026 is the Year of Vasarely. In Hungary, there are two museums where his works can be viewed: one is in the capital, and the other is located in Pécs.
“His art greatly influenced the art world of the 20th and later the 21st century. The founding father of optical art, his creations are unique. Inspired by Bauhaus painting, he did not transfer his personal experiences onto canvas using various techniques. His works are dazzling and, not infrequently, astonishing and abstract. I think visiting the museum was enjoyable for all of us.” (Enikő Miléna Szőke)
“The symbol of Vasarely’s work—and his most famous piece—is his tapestry titled Zebra (1937), which is located in the museum in Pécs. It is a huge honor for Pécs that this artwork is located in our city.” (Eszter Szabó-Körmendi)
“I liked ‘Baidan’ the best, a complex optical illusion made of triangles and squares. Victor Vasarely is the inventor of optical art. My personal favorite was the Vasarely cube because I liked the idea of grouping a bunch of cubes together, which ultimately creates an effect as if it were a mountain.” (Péter Gaál)
“One of my favorite works is Victor Vasarely’s piece titled Vega Chess. I like it because its colors are very special, and it looks as if the picture is moving. Because of the blue and red patterns, it looks like a large sphere is emerging from the image. I think it is very interesting that he could create such a spectacular artwork from simple shapes. When I look at it, I always see it a bit differently. This work well demonstrates the op-art style, which ‘plays’ with our eyes. It is my favorite because it is modern and exciting.” (Bálint Radics)
“I liked all the works, but if I had to choose one, I would choose his piece titled Planetary Folklore; I really liked the squares and rhombuses of different colors, but all the works were beautiful.” (Raul Kuti)
“We spent our Saturday session today at the Vasarely Museum in Pécs. We viewed the works of the Pécs-born artist in the museum, which reopened after its renovation. The exhibition was very good. My favorite was the minimalist-named and minimalist-looking artwork titled ‘Chess’. The clean piece made of glass truly won me over. In summary, today was great.” (Péter Bence)
“Vasarely’s work titled Zebra is an early and defining piece of op-art, which he created in 1937. With the black and white, undulating stripes, the creator evokes the illusion of movement and the third dimension, while the specific form of the zebras becomes almost unrecognizable through the intertwining of the two animals’ bodies. With this geometric abstraction, Vasarely reinforces the idea that the visual experience is stronger than the concrete identification of objects.” (Lorenzo Raffel)
A museum visit is a more stimulus-rich and successful way of learning. We were enriched with a lot of new knowledge and had a great time. Thank you for this wonderful day! Pécs Group 3 and Pécs Group 1