Lot 5 D

In September 1969, Victor Vasarely wrote a letter to Eva Stünke stating that the large collage on hardboard is more beautiful than the canvas due to the fact that the (colour) range is fully coordinated on it: “Le collage fait 200 x200 cm et il est plus beau que la toile, car les gammes sont intégralement développées dessus.” (Victor Vasarely, Annet-sur-Marne, an Eva Stünke, Cologne dated 14.09.1969)

Since his childhood, Victor Vasarely has been fascinated by everyday optical phenomena that evoke effects of depth or dynamic structures such as the manifold reflections on window panes. His intention as an artist is to track down these phenomena and to create them himself by means of serial structures. In order to do so, he developed his so-called alphabet comprising basic geometrical shapes that can be freely combined in grids.
“The structure of my units originates from the interplay of ground and shape, however. The totality of my binary plastic units forms my alphabet. […] Initially, the sculptural unit consisted of black shapes on a white background or white shapes on a black background so that either its core, the shape, appeared positive on a negative ground or vice versa. However, with the introduction of colour and the various scales of colour, the number of possible combinations became dizzyingly high. […] My sculptural units are placed in sorting boxes like print letters, they are ‘shape colours’ and represent the safest and fastest means of recording my programmes on graph paper. I achieve the desired results by simply sticking them on, a simultaneously formal and colourful combinatorial logic, which I later called ‘algorithms’ or ‘permutations’.” (Victor Vasarely, cited from: Jean-Louis Ferrier, Gespräche mit Victor Vasarely (Spiegelschrift 8), Cologne 1971, p.64ff.).
“Zoeld-D-SZ” masterfully shows which fascinating optical effects can be evoked by these means. The combination of square and circular shapes alone creates an optical division of the picture surface. The yellow tones, which become more intense towards the centre, create a sucking-in effect and illuminate the centre of the picture like an integrated light source.