Beja c. 1948 - 1950

Victor Vasarely made this playful oil painting, Beja, with simple geometric shapes. It's like he took a construction set and decided to build a picture instead of a building! The colors are muted, earthy yellows, browns, and an interesting raspberry red. It's not about making things look real, it's about how the shapes and colors feel together. There's a wonderful tension between the flat planes of color and the sense of depth created by the overlapping forms. Look at the the dark, almost black form that anchors the center. Its angular edges push against the softer curves nearby. It's like a dance! You can almost feel Vasarely experimenting, pushing and pulling the shapes until they found their place. This reminds me of the work of Paul Klee. Both artists invite us to see the world with fresh eyes, to find joy in the simple act of arranging shapes and colors on a surface. Art isn’t about answers, it's about the questions we ask along the way.