Bridget Riley's monochrome Op Art paintings sold for £4 million each by 2020 — yet for her larger works, she designed but did not personally hold the brush. Op Art (Optical Art) uses precise geometric patterns to create paintings that vibrate, flicker, and seem to move on the wall. This quiz covers the founders, the breakthrough exhibitions, and the techniques that fool the eye.
Each round presents 10 randomized questions from a pool of 50, with four multiple-choice options and instant feedback after every answer. Your final score comes with a performance tier and shareable results.
You'll explore the work of Bridget Riley and Victor Vasarely, the 1965 'Responsive Eye' exhibition at MoMA, the influence of Bauhaus and Albers, the Latin American kinetic artists, the ZERO and GRAV groups, and how Op Art bled into fashion, fabric, and album design.
Bridget Riley (b. 1931) is a British painter and the most famous Op artist alive today. She rose to international fame in the 1960s with mesmerizing black-and-white paintings like 'Movement in Squares' (1961) and 'Current' (1964).
Op Art (short for Optical Art) is a style of abstract art that uses precise geometric patterns and high-contrast color to create optical illusions of motion, vibration, hidden images, and warping space. The term was coined in Time magazine in 1964.
Victor Vasarely (1906-1997) was a Hungarian-French artist often called the 'Father of Op Art.' His geometric works, including the 'Vega' series, helped define optical and kinetic abstraction in the mid-20th century.
Last updated: May 2026