Op Art - Art History 101 Basics

Op Art - Art History 101 Basics
Flashback to 1964. In the United States, we were still reeling from the assassination of our President, escalating the Civil Rights movement, being "invaded" byBritish pop/rock music and, in general, pretty much done with notions of achieving idyllic lifestyles (despite that which was touted in the 1950s). Given the circumstances, it was a perfect time for a newartistic movement to burst on the scene.
In October of 1964, in an article describing this new style of art,Time Magazine coined the phrase "Optical Art" (or "Op Art", as it's more commonly known).The term referenced the fact that Op Art is comprised of illusion, and often appears - to the human eye - to be moving or breathing due to its precise, mathematically-based composition.
After (andbecause of) a major 1965 exhibition of Op Art entitled The Responsive Eye, the public became enraptured with the movement. As a result, one began to see Op Art showing up everywhere: in print andtelevision advertising, as LP album art and as a fashion motif in clothing and interior decoration.
Although the term was coined and the exhibition held in the mid-1960s, most people who've studied thesethings agree that Victor Vasarelypioneered the movement with his 1938 paintingZebra. M. C. Escher - whose style has sometimes caused him to be listed as an Op artist - created works with amazingperspectives and use of tessellations that certainly helped point the way for others. And it can be argued that none of Op Art would've been possible - let alone embraced by the public - without the priorAbstract and Expressionist movements that de-emphasized (or, in many cases, eliminated) representational subject matter.
As an "official" movement, Op Art has been given a life-span of around threeyears. This doesn't mean, though, that every artist ceased employing Op Art as their style by 1969.Bridget Riley is one noteworthy artist who has moved from achromatic to chromatic pieces, but has...