Fondation Vasarely — Attraction in Aix-en-Provence

The Fondation Vasarely in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, is an institution and a museum entitled to 20th century Hungarian-born French artist Victor Vasarely, devoted to the promotion of art and the collaboration between different forms of artistic expression. Victor Vasarely (1906, Pécs, Hungary – 1997, Paris, France) is most renowned as a leading figure of the Optical Art (or Op Art) movement. After being involved in Cubism, Surrealism, Constructivism, Kinetic Art and other avant-garde movements of the 20th century art, in the 1950s, Vasarely was one of the founders of Op Art, a form of artistic expression deeply influenced by mathematics, euclidean and non-euclidean geometry, optical illusion, and psychology. It’s in early Seventies that Vasarely took the decision to create an institution and a center in southern France committed to the promotion of the arts, eventually choosing Aix-en-Provence for the support by local authorities and because of “Aix-en-Provence’s rich history, its artistic and architectural programs, world-renowned festival, excellent network of highways and finally, for my own personal admiration for Cézanne”. Since 1976, the Vasarely Foundation is seated in a quite peculiar building, designed by Victor Vasarely himself in collaboration with architects John Sonnier and Dominique Ronsseray, located on the outkisrts of Aix-en-Provence. The architecture of the foundation’s building is clearly influenced by Vasarely’s artistic style. It consists of sixteen hexagonal prisms, 14 meters / 46 feet across, which, on two floors, accommodate various exhibition spaces, a 133-seat auditorium, a library, a cafe, offices, and storage areas, on a total floor area of about 5,000 square meters (53,800 square feet). Those “cells” are clad with black and white anodized aluminum panels and 14 of them are topped by timber and glass pyramidal cupolas which provide natural illumination to the interior spaces. The entrance cell is completely glazed instead, while the upper floor of another one was partially removed and replaced with a small outdoor terrace. The building was fully restored and refurbished in 2018. The foundation holds a permanent collection comprising 42 large scale artworks by Vasarely; up to 6 meters wide and 8 meters high (20 x 26 feet), these monumental abstract geometry pieces were made by the artist between the late 1960s and the early 1970s with the express aim of displaying them in the foundation and are currently installed in 11 rooms located on the ground floor of the foundation’s building. Either colored or monochrome, the art installations, Vasarely named Intégrations Architectoniques, were made with various techniques and materials – including aluminum, fabric, ceramics, enamel, silk-printed paper, glass, and plastics. Together with the building, such monumental works create a sort of Gesamtkunstwerk, a “total artwork” into which architecture and...

Stunning location with mind blowing artwork that is so beautiful and ahead of it’s time. Really enjoyed and felt privileged to see that, but unfortunately maintenance of the building inside and outside really left us a bit sad and disappointed. Everything felt outdated and abandoned 20 years ago. Outside is not that bad really but inside… pictures speaks for itself. And on top of that entrance is not cheap at all I think 16 eur regular and 12 for students, which I’m happy to pay but also expect to be cleaned well preserved and not only that but taken care of with love, which here doesn’t feel at all. Anyways I would still recommend for others to visit and hopefully whoever is in charge should start taking his job seriously and fix this foundation like it...

Excellent collection of the Hungarian-French Artist with immense fabric prints of his artwork, geometric designs, illusions. Small self serve "café" with a couple of vending machines which was being used as a quiet corner by a few families with small children. Unfortunately outside all trees have been removed all around the building which is a concrete steel box. In the intense heat (canicule) of August it would be great if the Mairie planted trees to create shade and reduce the need for air-conditioning and make the whole inside and outside more welcoming...