1969
“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.
Inward Eye, #5 Geometric Abstract OP Art Screenprint by Richard Anuszkiewicz
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in Long Island City, NY
Richard Anuszkiewicz (American, 1930 - ) created the "Inward Eye" portfolio after a conversation with a friend who said that Anuszkiewcz's works reminded him of William Blake's work....
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Sun Keyed, OP Art Screenprint by Richard Anuszkiewicz
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Richard Anuszkiewicz, American (1930 - ) Title: Sun Keyed Year: 1972 Medium: Screenprint (unsigned) Edition: 3000 Image Size: 12 x 14 inches Size: 14 x 18 in. (35.56 x 45....
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Celebrate New York, OP Art Screenprint by Richard Anuszkiewicz 1973
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in Long Island City, NY
Celebrate New York Richard Anuszkiewicz, American (1930–2020) Date: 1973 Screenprint, signed, dated, and numbered in pencil lower right Edition of 300 Image Size: 29 x 22 inches Size...
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1920 League of Women Voters, OP Art Screenprint by Richard Anuszkiewicz
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in Long Island City, NY
The 50th Anniversary of the League of Women Voters Screenprint Poster from 1970, designed by Richard Anuszkiewicz (1930 - 2020) printed in 1969,...
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Inward Eye, #9 Geometric Abstract OP Art Screenprint by Richard Anuszkiewicz
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in Long Island City, NY
Richard Anuszkiewicz (American, 1930 - ) created the "Inward Eye" portfolio after a conversation with a friend who said that Anuszkiewcz's works reminded him of William Blake's work....
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Inward Eye #4, Geometric Abstract OP Art Screenprint by Richard Anuszkiewicz
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in Long Island City, NY
Richard Anuszkiewicz (American, 1930 - ) created the "Inward Eye" portfolio after a conversation with a friend who said that Anuszkiewcz's works reminded him of William Blake's work....
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Sequential I - X
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in London, GB
Richard Anuszkiewicz Sequential Prints: Sequential I - X 1972 Screenprint on paper, Edition of 200 71.1 x 53.3 cms (28 x 21 ins)
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Fractions, from Twelve Progressions
By Julian Stanczak
Located in Miami, FL
Technical Information: Julian Stanczak Fractions, from Twelve Progressions 1971 Screenprint 26 1/2 x 26 1/2 in. Edition of 90 Pencil signed and numbered Accompanied with COA by Gre...
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Inward Eye
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Inward Eye" 1970, is an original colors screen print by renown artist Richard Anuszkiewicz, 1930-2020. It is hand signed in pencil by the artist. The image size ...
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Sequential Chroma, Julian Stanczak
By Julian Stanczak
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Julian Stanczak (1928-2017) Title: Sequential Chroma Year: 1978 Edition: 2/175, plus proofs Medium: Silkscreen on Somerset paper Size: 30.25 x 25.75 inches Condition: Good In...
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Richard Anuszkiewicz 1963 Original Painting
By Richard Anuszkiewicz
Located in San Francisco, CA
Richard Anuszkiewicz: 1930-2020. Very important and well listed American artist. He has auction results as high as $250,000. He was the leader of what would be called OP Art short fo...
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Roy Ahlgren "Concantenation" Signed Limited Edition Print Op-Art
By Roy Ahlgren
Located in San Rafael, CA
Roy Ahlgren (American, 1927 - 2011) Concatenation, 1970 Silkscreen (Print), signed, titled and numbered in pencil Edition 31/100 Image Size: 18 x 18 inches Sheet 20.5 in H x 20 in L ...
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In the 1960s and '70s, the hypnotic creations of Op artists went mainstream and influenced the look of pop culture.
Through collage, painting and printmaking, the artist foregrounded Black life in America in revolutionary new ways.
