Influenced by his upbringing in Judaism as well as the teachings of the Bauhaus, Yaacov Agam is a pioneer of kinetic art as well as the Op art movement and is often credited with introducing geometric abstraction to his home country of Israel.
Born in Rishon LeZion, Palestine — now part of Israel — the son of a rabbi, Agam found that the spiritual world had a major influence on his art practice, as did the sand dunes he grew up watching as they constantly shifted with the wind. This perpetual movement would inform his work, whereby riveting, prismatic compositions that transform from different perspectives, patterns that generate optical effects and sculptures that move with a passing breeze all reflect the gradual changes in nature.
Agam studied with Israeli painter Mordecai Ardon at the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem in the 1940s before traveling to Zurich where he trained with Swiss Expressionist painter Johannes Itten and was inspired by the abstract work of Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky.
One of the innovative techniques Agam developed was the Agamograph, which uses lenticular printing so that multiple images, which are revealed as the viewer moves around the piece, can be seen on a single work. His art has regularly involved the spectator as a participant, whether it’s the 1972–74 room-size kinetic installation he created for the Elysée Palace that’s now in the Centre Pompidou in which a gleaming abstract sculpture is surrounded on all sides by polychromatic lines or it’s public art like the 1986 Fire and Water Fountain in Tel Aviv with circles of vibrant panels that offer varying colors from every angle.
In 2018, the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art opened in Rishon LeZion, showcasing six decades of Agam’s influential work that engages with perception through color, shape and form, from paintings, prints and installations to new experiments in interactive digital art.
Find a collection of Yaacov Agam art today on 1stDibs.
Love Star of David, Abstract Gouache on Paper, Framed, 1978
By Yaacov Agam
Located in Aventura, FL
Original gouache painting on paper. Hand signed lower front by Yaacov Agam. Image size 20.25 x 18.5 inches. Sheet size 29 x 22.2 inches. Frame size approx 33 x 31 inches. Artw...
Paper, Gouache
Beyond the Visible, Original Marker Drawing by Agam
By Yaacov Agam
Located in Long Island City, NY
Diagonal lines in pink, pink, orange, and black make up the composition of this original drawing by Yaacov Agam. Signed above the printed text ’Agam’. Title: Beyond the Visible Medi...
Archival Paper, Permanent Marker
$3,850
H 9.75 in W 7.75 in D 1.5 in
Sol Lewitt - original drawing - geometric abstraction (signed twice), Framed
By Sol LeWitt
Located in New York, NY
Sol Lewitt - original drawing - geometric abstraction (signed twice), 1980 Marker drawing on postmarked (franked) postcard - signed and inscribed twice original drawing black felt ti...
Postcard, Permanent Marker
$450
H 8 in W 8 in
"residence" abstract cityscape, colorful rowhouses, geometric, marker, pencil
By Miriam Singer
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This piece titled "residence" is an original artwork made from pencil, maker, acrylic paint collage on panel by Miriam Singer. This piece measures 8"h x 8"w. Miriam Singer grew up i...
Paint, Panel, Permanent Marker, Pencil
$2,850
H 11.7 in W 8.27 in D 0.04 in
Foundational Study No. 25 (B) Gestural Form & Crimson Pigment
By Rebecca Wing Sze Lam
Located in STRETTON, AU
Foundational Studies 25(B) The Composition A refined entry point into the studio’s practice, Foundational Studies 25(B) is a deliberate exploration of form and verse. Executed on ha...
Archival Paper, Color Pencil, Pencil, Permanent Marker, Felt Pen, Pen, A...
Sara Eichner, Orange_16 Layers, 2016, Ink, Rag Paper, Pen
By Sara Eichner
Located in Darien, CT
Sara Eichner wants to create a space where point of view can not be fixed. Optical games stand in for the struggle to comprehend the complexities of seeing. Using simple drawing tool...
Ink, Rag Paper, Pen
Sara Eichner, 16 Layers, 2016, Ink, Rag Paper, Pen
By Sara Eichner
Located in Darien, CT
Sara Eichner wants to create a space where point of view cannot be fixed. Optical games stand in for her struggle to comprehend the complexities of seeing. Using simple drawing tools...
Ink, Rag Paper, Pen
$3,200
H 30 in W 22 in
Figure 8s.2- abstract geometric black and white ink drawing on paper
By Dana Piazza
Located in New York, NY
Dana Piazza's creates abstract black and white drawings, full of the illusion of depth, movement, and three-dimensionality. His highl...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper
Covers 13 Green (Abstract Painting)
By Joanne Freeman
Located in London, GB
Covers 13 Green (Abstract Painting) Gouache on handmade Khadi paper. Unframed. Joanne Freeman's works on paper are made with gouache on handmade Indian Khadi paper. She uses tape ...
Gouache, Handmade Paper
$2,125
H 19.5 in W 15.75 in
Zigzags 6- abstract geometric blak and white ink drawing on paper
By Dana Piazza
Located in New York, NY
Dana Piazza's creates abstract black and white drawings, full of the illusion of depth, movement, and three-dimensionality. His highl...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper
$1,200
H 20.1 in W 25.1 in
Untitled (F221, G3) - soft pastel color blue yellow abstract geometric drawing
By David Brody
Located in New York, NY
DAVID BRODY Untitled (F221, G3), 2000 16.8 x 21.75 inches; framed in off white wood frame 20.1 x 25.1 inches graphite and colored pencil on isometric graph paper pencil signed and da...
Archival Paper, Color Pencil, Graphite
Untitled 10 (Abstract painting)
By Marcy Rosenblat
Located in London, GB
Pigment, silica medium and gouache on paper - Unframed. Marcy Rosenblat describes herself as having an affinity for process art, a method of art making in which predetermined system...
Paper, Gouache, Pigment
Covers 24-Green A (Abstract Painting)
By Joanne Freeman
Located in London, GB
Covers 24-Green A (Abstract Painting) Gouache on handmade Khadi paper. Unframed. Joanne Freeman's works on paper are made with gouache on handmade Indian Khadi paper. She uses tap...
Gouache, Handmade Paper
$3,200
H 30 in W 22 in
Figure 8s.1- abstract geometric black and white ink drawing on paper
By Dana Piazza
Located in New York, NY
Dana Piazza's creates abstract black and white drawings, full of the illusion of depth, movement, and three-dimensionality. His highl...
Archival Ink, Archival Paper
Sold
H 10.5 in W 11.25 in
Agam Original Marker Drawing Colorful Spirals Hand Signed Israeli Kinetic Op Art
By Yaacov Agam
Located in Surfside, FL
Yaacov Agam, Israeli (b. 1928) Hand signed and dated This is a great example of bold, graphic, mod design. Along with Reuven Rubin and Menashe Kadishman he is among Israel's best kn...
Archival Paper, Permanent Marker
LOVE STAR OF DAVID
By Yaacov Agam
Located in Aventura, FL
Original gouache painting on paper. Hand signed lower front by Yaacov Agam. Image size 20.25 x 18.5 inches. Sheet size 29 x 22.2 inches. Frame size approx 33 x 31 inches. Cert...
Paper, Gouache