A portrait of Vera Molnár in 1961. Image: François Molnár, Vera Molnár archive
Molnár came up with an ‘imaginary machine’ approach to use algorithms in her art work in the 1950s and is said to have paved the way for various artists.
Vera Molnár, a Hungarian digital artist who is known as a pioneer in the generative art scene, has died aged 99.
Her death was announced earlier this month by the Pompidou Centre in Paris, which was working to open a major exhibition with the artist. The Centre said this exhibition will open in February next year and will “pay tribute to her exceptional work”.
Molnár discovered an interest in art at the age of around 10 or 11, before entering the School of Fine Arts in Budapest in 1942, according to a tribute piece published by the Pompidou Centre. Even at a young age, her art appeared to have an algorithmic, structured design, with her earliest work being four coloured horizontal stripes to depict a sunset.
But Molnár’s real expedition into generative art began in 1959 when she created her ‘machine imaginaire’ or imaginary machine – an approach that involved using algorithms to help guide elements of an art piece.
This mindset is the basis for generative art, which is simply art that has been created with the help of an autonomous system. The concept has evolved rapidly in the decades since Molnár’s imaginary machine, with generative AI tools letting users create detailed art pieces in seconds from a single text prompt.
Molnár’s imaginary machine was done without the use of a computer, but in 1968 she reached a new milestone when she got access to a computer centre in Paris, which opened up a wave of new perspectives and opportunities.
Molnár continued her work on generative art up to her death. Last year, she even created her own NFT – non-fungible token – collection, which sold for roughly $1.2m in less than an hour at a Sotheby’s auction earlier this year.
Michael Bouhanna, a Sotheby’s VP, contemporary art specialist and head of digital art and NFTs, said words could not express “how honored I was to work directly with [Molnár] this year”.
“There will be numerous tributes within our generative art community and the traditional art world, honoring this Grande Dame who paved the way for many artists,” Bouhanna said. “She led a life full of creativity and perseverance. Her imprint on the history of art will remain intact.”
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