Vera Molnár (; 5 January 1924 – 7 December 2023) was a Hungarian media artist who lived and worked in Paris, France. Molnár is widely considered to have been a pioneer of the

generative art Generative art is post-conceptual art that has been created (in whole or in part) with the use of an autonomous system. An ''autonomous system'' in this context is generally one that is non-human and can independently determine features of an ...

aspect of computer art. She was one of the first women to use computers in her

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

practice. In the 1960s, she founded two art groups in France concerned with the use of art and technology: the Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel and Art et Informatique. Born in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, she studied

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

and

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. In the 1940s and 1950s, she created

abstract painting Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

s. By 1959 she was making combinatorial images and in 1968 she began using a computer to create her first algorithmic drawings. In 1976, her first

solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an art exhibition, exhibition of the work of only one artist. Rather than a group of artists who collaborate to form an exhibition. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photogr ...

in the gallery of the London Polytechnic took place. Her work has been widely collected by major museums. In 2007, she was named a Chevalier of Arts and Letters in France. Molnár was selected as one of 213 artists for the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022.

Life

Vera Molnár, born in 1924 in Hungary, was one of the pioneers of computer and algorithmic arts. Trained as a traditional artist, Molnár studied for a diploma in

and aesthetics at the

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

College of Fine Arts, where she graduated in 1947, and where she met her future husband, François Molnar (1922–1993) a scientist with whom she collaborated. For a short while in 1947 she lived in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, before moving to Paris that same year. In 1948, she married Molnár. Molnár iterated combinatorial images from as early as 1959. In 1968 she began working with computers, where she began to create algorithmic paintings based on simple geometric shapes and geometrical themes. Molnár died on 7 December 2023, at the age of 99.

Work

Molnár created her first non-representational images in 1946. These were abstract geometrical and systematically determined paintings. In 1947 she received an artists' fellowship to study in Rome at the Villa Giulia, and shortly after moved to France, where she resided until she died in Paris. In the 1960s, Molnár co-founded several artist research groups. The first, in 1960, was the Groupe de Recherche d'Art Visuel, which investigates collaborative approaches to mechanical and kinetic art. The second was Art et Informatique, with a focus on art and computing. Molnár learned the early programming languages of Fortran and

BASIC Basic or BASIC may refer to: Science and technology * BASIC, a computer programming language * Basic (chemistry), having the properties of a base * Basic access authentication, in HTTP Entertainment * Basic (film), ''Basic'' (film), a 2003 film ...

, and gained access to a computer at a research laboratory in Paris where she began to make computer graphic drawings on a

plotter A plotter is a machine that produces vector graphics drawings. Plotters draw lines on paper using a pen, or in some applications, use a knife to cut a material like Polyvinyl chloride, vinyl or leather. In the latter case, they are sometimes k ...

Legacy

Molnár was part of the 2010 exhibition "On Line: Drawing Through the Twentieth Century" at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York. The exhibition demonstrated the history of drawing lines. A 2015 retrospective exhibition called "Regarding the Infinite , Drawings 1950–1987" was held at Senior & Shopmaker Gallery in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. A 2024 show at Paris's

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

exhibited Molnár's algorithmic work alongside her sketches and notes.

Awards

In 2005 Molnár received the DAM Digital Arts Award for her life's work, which includes €20,000 prize, and a catalogued exhibition. Vera Molnár's exhibit, ''(Un)Ordnung.(Dés)Ordre''. at the Museum Haus Konstruktiv shows her early freehand drawings never exhibited before, from the late-1960s to the new installation there, at the museum in Zürich. Molnár was appointed Chevalier of Arts and Letters (2007) and won the outstanding merit award AWARE in 2018. Molnár was one of 213 artists announced as part of the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022. The theme for the Venice Biennale is to "Challenge the Idea of 'Men as the Center of the Universe'."

Collections

* Frac Lorraine, France * Museum of Fine Arts Houston *

, New York City *Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch, Germany * Morgan Library & Museum * National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. * Tate, London *

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, London
Kunstmuseum Reutlingen , konkret
* Los Angeles Country Museum of Art

References

External links

Official websiteArtnet pageMoMa pageArtsy page
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Molnar, Vera 1924 births 2023 deaths 20th-century French women artists 21st-century French women artists 20th-century Hungarian women artists 21st-century Hungarian women artists Artists from Budapest Hungarian emigrants to France Hungarian digital artists French digital artists Women digital artists French contemporary artists Hungarian contemporary artists Officer's Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Knights of the Legion of Honour Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres