Op Art

Paper Summary:

The paper explains "op art" as a term that refers to visual art that makes use of optical illusions in its overall aesthetic effect. The paper
examines the history of op art and its humble origins, while investigating the genre's main characteristics. The paper also discusses its main practitioners, namely, Bridget Riley, Julian Stanczak and Richard Anuskiewicz.

From the Paper:

"Traces of the origins of op art can be found in the German Constructivist School known as the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus were known more as a philosophical and design school than they were as artists. Their design philosophy was rooted in the idea of "form and function" over purely aesthetic pleasure. The Bauhaus filtered all their ideas through serious, rational analysis. This movement would be imported to the United States with the rise of the Third Reich in Germany in the early 1930s, when the original Bauhaus academy was forced to close and many of its leading personalities fled to America. The 1930s and 1940s would see the creation of several proto-op works, including several works by Victor Vasarely, a Hungarian artist."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Rand, Harry. 1990. Julian Stanczak: Decades of Light. Buffalo: State University of New York.
• Ratliff, Floyd. 1996. The Theory of Color and the Practice of Painting. Color Function Painting: The Art of Josef Albers, Julian Stanczak and Richard Anuszkiewicz. Winston Salem, NC: Wake Forest University.

More papers on Op Art:

• Essay # 90247 : "Naked or Nude in Art"
• Research Paper # 68727 : "Orientalist Art Market "
• Term Paper # 119157 : "Art and Aesthetic"

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