Op Art is an early 20th century art movement in which the focus is optical illusion

Zebra Couple, Victor Vasarely 1938

Though it appeared almost simultaneously in Europe and the United States during the late 1950′s, Op Art can be traced back as far as 1945, to Dutch artist Maurits Cornelis Escher.

Victor Vasarely, Blue-Black

Intake, Bridget Riley

Two techniques used to achieve this effect are perspective illusion and chromatic tension. Artists used colors, lines and shapes repetitive and simple ways to create perceived movement and to trick the viewer's eye. Many of first, the better known pieces were made in only black and white.

In Op Art positive and negative spaces in a composition are of equal importance. Op Art could not be created without both.

Perspective lines to a center point creates wedges where curving lines are alternated to create a feeling of roundness. Alternating color creates foreground/background visual tension.

Perspective checkerboard within a rectangle “box” shape.

Simple horizontal lines that curve when they make contact with the contour lines of the hand.

Simple overlap bars with angled lines create visual tension.

Rectangles off-set from the center – decreasing in size – creates Perspective depth.

Tubes are created with varying shaped lines and filled with curving lines to create the feeling of a three dimensional shape.