Kallion 1949

Victor Vasarely made Kallion, a geometrical abstract painting, using a combination of brown, purple, yellow, green and pink paints. The colors create flat shapes that seem to float on the canvas, constructing a playful, visual puzzle. The surface is smooth and almost textureless. The colors are carefully applied, creating a sense of precision, but there are subtle irregularities in the way the colors overlap. Look at the maroon triangle in the top left. It creates a sense of visual depth but it also has a handmade quality. This tension is really key to Vasarely's work. The colors create an illusion of three-dimensionality but they are still paintings. Vasarely’s exploration of geometric forms and the way they interact reminds me a bit of Josef Albers' color studies. But where Albers was concerned with the subjective experience of color, Vasarely was more interested in perception and the creation of optical illusions. What do you see?