Unique architecture suffering from neglect
A petition has been set up to ask the French government to step in and save the landmark building from total decline

Vasarely was born in Hungary in 1906 and died in Paris in 1997. During his lifetime, his works were honoured with a number of awards including the Guggenheim prize, the French Legion of Honor, the art critics prize at Brussels and the gold medal at the Milan triennale

Vasarely’s identity in the art world was based on his experimentations with optical illusion and the use of line, colour toning and size variation

Permanent exhibition faces closure

Vasarely began a degree in medicine in Budapest before abandoning his studies to pursue his passion for art. He went on to design the official spiral-shaped logo of the Munich Olympic games

Since the artist’s death in Paris in 1997, his estate has been mired in successive controversies dubbed the Vasarely affair (‘l’affaire Vasarely’) and now the new Vasarely affair (‘la nouvelle affaire Vasarely’) by the French press

Relatives have made various attempts to acquire personal possession of his art-works. Vasarely’s step-mother was arrested for theft in Chicago in 2008 after she was caught moving hundreds of Vasarely’s works from one clandestine storage space to another