In 1927 Vasarely made a radical and life changing decision – he decided to suspend his studies in medicine and change direction completely, making the decision to pursue a career in art. These years studying medicine were far from wasted though as the formal scientific training provided him with a strong sense of scientific method and objectivity – something that stood him in good stead throughout his artistic career.
For the following two years, Vasarely studied traditional academic painting at the private Podolini-Volkmann Academy. Throughout this time he further occupied himself with reading widely – particularly scientific literature – absorbing the works of Einstein, Heisenberg, Bohr and Wiener. Gradually Vasarely began to develop an idea that the sciences had reached the limits of what could be explained and that it was through art that these scientific models could be made visually comprehensible.
Vasarely's work evolved over the years as he explored depth and movement in his highly structured paintings. Victor Vasarely was a man of huge energy and inventiveness. In his old age he was heaped with honours. He was made an honorary citizen of New York and in 1990 was promoted (in France) to the rank of Grand Officer de l’Ordre national du Mérite.
Vasarely died in Paris on March 15th 1997 aged 91. Sadly there remains to this day a lot of controversy surrounding the Vasarely estate.
