Etudes Bauhaus A 1929

Victor Vasarely made this small, square "Etudes Bauhaus A" sometime in the 20th century; its palette is like a grayscale turned up just a notch, and you can see the artist really relishing the possibilities of simple geometric forms. There's something so satisfying about the way Vasarely has stacked these rectangles, creating this kind of visual labyrinth. The surface has a kind of flatness that almost feels like printmaking rather than painting, and in this sense it prefigures the op-art that he is best known for. Take a look at the lower left corner. See that dark brown that creates a frame around the image? It’s almost got this gritty, sand-like texture that plays off the smooth surfaces of the gray and white rectangles, offering an earthy foundation to the airy structure. It makes me think of the paintings of Josef Albers, also Bauhaus affiliated, who explored the emotional effects of color. Like Albers, Vasarely asks us to consider the process of seeing, reminding us that art is not just about representation, but about experience, exploration, and opening up new ways of perceiving the world.