TATE COLLECTION


TATE COLLECTION

Glossary home
Browse terms
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Op art 

A major development in the 1960s of painting that created optical effects for the spectator. These effects ranged from the subtle, to the disturbing and disorienting. Op painting used a framework of purely geometric forms as the basis for its effects and also drew on colour theory and the physiology and psychology of perception. Leading figures were Bridget Riley, Jesus Raphael Soto, and Victor Vasarely. Vasarely was one of the originators of Op art. Soto's work often involves mobile elements and points up the close connection between Kinetic and Op art.
 

Victor Vasarely, Supernovae, 1959-61
Victor Vasarely
Supernovae
1959-61
 
Jesus Rafael Soto, Twelve Blacks and Four Silvers, 1965
Jesus Rafael Soto
Twelve Blacks and Four Silvers
1965
 
Peter Sedgley, Yellow Attenuation, 1965
Peter Sedgley
Yellow Attenuation
1965