“I’m interested,” Richard Anuszkiewicz (1930–2020) once said, “in making something romantic out of a very, very mechanistic geometry.” Anuszkiewicz sought to achieve this romance through works juxtaposing vibrant colors in geometric configurations. The perceptual effects he created helped define the American Op art movement.
Anuszkiewicz studied color theory at Yale under Josef Albers and was greatly influenced by Albers’s approach. “The image in my work has always been determined by what I wanted the color to do,” Anuszkiewicz explained in a 1974 catalogue. “Color function becomes my subject matter, and its performance is my painting.”
He departed from his mentor, however, in the pulsating, illusory qualities he gave his work. One of his most famous paintings, Deep Magenta Square (1978), although similar in composition to Albers’s “Homage to the Square” series, is distinctly Op art in the way the striations surrounding the central square seem to vibrate and jump off the canvas.
Anuszkiewicz spent his entire career exploring optical effects through the manipulation of line and color, producing spectacular and timeless pieces of art. “Working with basic ideas will always be exciting,” he said in 1977. “And if a color or form is visually exciting in any profound sense, it will be that way in 10 or 20 years from now.”
Browse a variety of paintings and prints by Richard Anuszkiewicz at 1stDibs.
Richard Anuszkiewicz Metallic Water 1960s Op Art painting Art Institute Chicago
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in New York, NY
Richard Anuszkiewicz Metallic Water, 1964 Painting with Liquitex on canvas. (1964 Art Institute of Chicago Exhibition and J.L. Hudson Gallery) Signed boldly and dated 1964 on the ver...
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Canvas
Richard Anusziewicz Annual Edition. Limited Ed. Op Art silkscreen on masonite
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in New York, NY
Richard Anuszkiewicz Annual Edition, 1987-1988 Limited edition silkscreen on masonite Signed and dated by the artist lower right in pencil Frame Included (floated within a box frame)...
Masonite, Screen
Grey tinted Rainbow, Geometric Abstract dazzling Op Art Framed assemblage Signed
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in New York, NY
RICHARD ANUSZKIEWICZ Grey Tinted Rainbow, 1992 Assemblage with 14 Color Silkscreen and Lithograph Pencil signed and numbered 11/40 on the front Frame included: elegantly framed in a ...
Mixed Media, Pencil, Lithograph, Screen
Op Art Bowl for Hirshhorn Museum, Limited Edition 1970s glazed enamel and metal
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in New York, NY
Richard Anuszkiewicz Op Art Bowl for Hirshhorn Museum, 1976 Glazed Enamel on Metal Bowl. Artists Signature Fired in Plate Anuszkiewicz' signature fired onto the underside of bowl Lim...
Metal, Enamel
$2,200Sale Price|21% Off
H 26.44 in W 28.57 in
MMA-3 Variant /// Josef Albers Abstract Geometric Screenprint Color Field Theory
By Josef Albers
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Josef Albers (German-American, 1888-1976) Title: "MMA-3 Variant" Series: MMA (Metropolitan Museum of Art) *Unsigned edition Year...
Screen
Untitled #1, 1964 from New York Ten
By Mon Levinson
Located in New York, NY
This dynamic work was realized by the esteemed 20th Century modern artist Mon Levinson in 1964. The work was realized in 1964, and printed in 1965 by Chiron Press in New York- the same year that Levinson was included in the seminal Op-Art exhibition "The Responsive Eye", alongside contemporary luminaries such as Bridget Riley. An identical work from this edition resides in the permanent collection of the New York MoMA. This mixed media work consists of an translucent vinyl sheet layered over a print- part etching, part lithograph. The clear vinyl sheet is embossed with a tight pattern of sinuously curved repeating black lines and is subtly raised in places- creating a subtle three dimensionality and dynamic sense of movement. The paper is inscribed with the same recurring pattern of snaking black lines, like a fine filigree, with two weighty black geometric forms that appear to crowd the composition. Smaller geometric forms reside within creating the apparition of negative space in the bone hued paper. The juxtaposition of the delicate texture and colossal feeling forms imbues the piece with a stunning dynamism and tension, helping to explain why Levinson is among the most influential and important artist to come out of the Op Art movement. His work is in the permanent collections of important institutions around the world including the Museum of Modern Art as well as the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Signed by the artist and marked 18/200. The work comes presented in a custom walnut and white gilt frame...
Mixed Media
$1,950
H 36 in W 36 in D 3 in
Sophisticated, Original Op Art Painting, Acrylic on Canvas, 36x36 inches
By Stan Slutsky
Located in Aventura, FL
Original painting on canvas. Hand signed on front; signed and titled on verso by the artist. Canvas is stretched. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of Authenticity in...
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,895
H 25.5 in W 26 in D 2 in
Original Op Art Abstract Color Screenprint "Planetary Folklore" Signed #2/250
By Victor Vasarely
Located in Portland, OR
A Op Art abstract color screenprint, "Planetary Folklore" 1968, by Victor Vasarely (1906-1997). This very striking work by Vasarely is comprised of various colorful geometric shapes, the work is signed lower right "Vasarely" and numbered lower left "2/250. This is an early and crisp impression in excellent condition and housed under glass in a gilt & silvered hardwood frame. This very eye-catching work by one of the 20th century's leading Op artists is ready to hang on your wall. 14" x 14.50" at sight without frame Numered 2/250 A Franco-Hungarian painter, Victor Vasarely (1906-1997) first studied medicine before turning to art. In Budapest, he frequented artists from the Hungarian Bauhaus...
Lithograph, Handmade Paper, Color, Screen
$28,000
H 31.19 in W 28.19 in
Red Meander I /// Anni Albers Bauhaus Abstract Geometric Female Artist Screen
By Anni Albers
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Anni Albers (German-American, 1899-1994) Title: "Red Meander I" Portfolio: Meander *Signed and dated by Albers in pencil lower right Year: 1969-1970 Medium: Original Screenpr...
Screen
$5,000
H 17 in W 16.94 in
Arrived /// Josef Albers Abstract Geometrical Screenprint 1960's Color Theory
By Josef Albers
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Josef Albers (German-American, 1888-1976) Title: "Arrived" Portfolio: Soft Edge - Hard Edge *Unsigned edition Year: 1965 Medium: Original Screenprint on Mohawk Superfine Bris...
Screen
$2,400
H 36.63 in W 29.88 in
Homage to Barnett Newman /// Gene Davis Abstract Geometric Minimal Screenprint
By Gene Davis
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Gene Davis (American, 1920-1985) Title: "Homage to Barnett Newman" *Signed and dated by Davis in pencil lower right Year: 1979 Medium: Original Screenprint on unbranded soft-...
Screen
Royal Curtain, Gene Davis
By Gene Davis
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Gene Davis (1920-1985) Title: Royal Curtain Year: 1980 Medium: Silkscreen on Arches paper Edition: 41/250, plus proofs Size: 30 x 21.5 inches Condition: Good Inscription: Sig...
Screen
$850
H 13.5 in W 13.5 in
Agam Silkscreen Jerusalem Lithograph Hand Signed Israeli Kinetic Op Art Print
By Yaacov Agam
Located in Surfside, FL
Yaacov Agam, Israeli (b. 1928) Hand signed, not individually numbered but from edition of 180. I can include a copy of the title sheet with the edition size and his signature if you ...
Lithograph, Screen
$5,000
H 16.94 in W 16.94 in
Arctic Bloom /// Josef Albers Blue Orange Screenprint Homage to the Square Print
By Josef Albers
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Josef Albers (German-American, 1888-1976) Title: "Arctic Bloom" Portfolio: Soft Edge - Hard Edge *Unsigned edition Year: 1965 Medium: Original Screenprint on Mohawk Superfine...
Screen
$1,000
H 43 in W 35 in
"Untitled" by Peter Plagens. (Abstract, Formalist, Symbolism, Geometric, Print)
Located in New York, NY
Peter Plagens (b. 1941) received his B.F.A. from the University of Southern California and his M.F.A. from Syracuse University. He is well known for his abstract, formalist paintings...
Screen
TallerOr
By Victor Vasarely
Located in Fairlawn, OH
TallerOr Screen print printed on "card board" (cream poster board), 1968 Signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 150 (54/150), plus 11 for the Vasarely Fou...
Screen
Sold
H 8 in W 5.1 in D 0.2 in
Annual Edition, Lt. Ed. 1970s mixed media Op Art silkscreen on board hand signed
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in New York, NY
Richard Anuszkiewicz Annual Edition, 1970 Silkscreen on Masonite Signed and dated in graphite pencil lower right recto. Edition of 100 8 × 5 1/10 × 1/5 inches Unframed Signed and dat...
Masonite, Screen, Graphite