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Origin and history

The Vasarely Foundation, designed between 1971 and 1976 by the Franco-Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely, is a unique architectural centre. Located in Jas-de-Buffan, Aix-en-Provence, this 16-hexagonal anodized aluminium alveole building incorporates monumental works by Vasarely into its interior facades and walls. The objective was to create a space where art, accessible to all, integrates with architecture to enhance the urban environment, in response to the "hideful" constructions of the twentieth century.

The project is part of Vasarely's utopian vision of a "polychrome city of happiness", an urban ideal where social and kinetic art would improve the quality of life. Financed entirely by the Vasarely couple through the sale of works, the foundation was recognized as a public utility in 1971. Its geometric facades, evoking the Sainte-Victoire mountain, and its 44 internal "integrations" illustrate optical art and lumino-kinetic architecture, foreshadowing a total and democratic art.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2013, the foundation experienced legal turbulence after Vasarely's death. In 1995, a controversial estate arbitration emptied 430 canvases and 18,000 silkscreen prints, transported outside France. In 2024, the French court annulled this arbitration, ordering the restitution of 87 works and validating the FBI's seizure of 112 pieces in the United States. Today, managed by Pierre Vasarely (the artist's grandson), it offers temporary exhibitions, educational workshops and cultural events.

The avant-garde architecture of the building, with its play of light and kinetic forms, reflects Vasarely's ambition to democratize art. The 42 internal monumental integrations, conceived as total works, interact with contemporary exhibitions. The site, frequented by more than 100,000 visitors annually (2019), remains a symbol of social art and a place to transmit constructivist heritage, in partnership with institutions such as the Pompidou Centre.

Beyond its museum dimension, the foundation embodies an artistic and urban manifesto. Vasarely theorizes an environment where art, liberated from elites, actively participates in daily life. The current activities — playful visits, children's workshops, university collaborations — perpetuate this educational and inclusive mission, while preserving a heritage threatened by family conflicts and dispersal of works.

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