To mark the 120th anniversary of Victor Vasarely’s birth and the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Pécs museum that exhibits his works, the Janus Pannonius Museum launched the Vasarely 2026 – Pécs jubilee season on the Day of Hungarian Culture.
The works of perhaps the most internationally renowned Hungarian visual artist appear in countless places around the world – not only in museums and galleries, but also in public spaces, on buildings, in logos, on album covers and even in film.
The first exhibition of the programme series paying tribute to one of the most influential figures of modern visual art is already open: until 22 March, works from the half-century-old Vasarely Museum can be seen in a new concept in the large temporary exhibition space of the Modern Hungarian Gallery (Modern Magyar Képtár), some 200 metres from the original exhibition venue in Pécs. The selection also features works from the collection of several hundred pieces that have not previously been included in the permanent exhibition and will not be on display there in the future either.
The Vasarely 2026 – Pécs season is not only a retrospective but also a forward-looking cultural commitment. In this spirit, the renovated Vasarely Museum will reopen on 9 April, fittingly linked to Victor Vasarely’s birthday. This will be followed by the inauguration of Vasarely Square and an exhibition of works by Claire Vasarely, the artist’s wife.
A large-scale contemporary exhibition at the m21 Gallery in the Zsolnay Quarter will explore how the legacy of op art lives on in 21st-century visual and light art. In the summer, a picnic celebrating the Vasarely Museum’s fiftieth birthday and special programmes at the Night of Museums await visitors.
At this year’s Zsolnay Light Festival, the Path of Light (Fény Útja) will be built around a Vasarely theme, while in the autumn the Early Vasarely exhibition, drawn from the collection of the Vasarely Museum in Budapest, will offer a further art-historical focus.
The jubilee season will close with DesignPécs’ Vasarely-themed programme series, which focuses on the contemporary connections between design and visual culture.
More information about the programme series is available at www.jpm.hu.
Photo: MTI/Ruprech Judit
Source: MTI