Bridget Riley

Bridget Riley's career soared in the early 1960s, catalysed by her ground-breaking 1961 artwork Movement in Squares. This painting marked a pivotal moment for Riley, initiating her exploration into the mesmerising geometric patterns that would define her artistic journey. With its captivating and dizzying effects, Movement in Squares established the foundation for Riley's future masterpieces.

Another significant turning point came in 1967 with Riley's Stripes series, which introduced vibrant colour to her previously monochromatic black-and-white works. The repeated stripe motif provided a stable framework for Riley to delve deeper into the visual effects of colour and various combinations, enriching her compositions with expanded perceptual and optical possibilities. The Stripes series remains iconic for its distinctive and visually dynamic qualities.

Bridget Riley's artworks have been featured in numerous auctions, achieving prices ranging from 26 USD to 5,783,812 USD, depending on factors such as size and medium. Since 1998, the highest recorded auction price for Riley's work stands at 5,783,812 USD, achieved by her painting Gala, which sold at Christie's London in 2022.

Bridget Riley's mature artistic style, which emerged during the 1960s, was notably influenced by sources such as the French Neo-Impressionist artist Georges Seurat. A pivotal exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery in 2015–2016, titled Bridget Riley: Learning from Seurat, highlighted how Seurat's pointillism inspired Riley's transition towards abstract painting.

Bridget Riley employs geometric shapes, lines, and colors to craft artworks that exhibit a distinct visual rhythm. Her signature style is characterised by repetitive patterns that create optical illusions, compelling viewers' eyes to traverse the canvas.

Bridget Riley initially worked exclusively in monochrome until the late 1960s, integrating optical and scientific effects into her paintings. Her early artworks often feature repeated geometric shapes, creating the illusion of movement on flat surfaces and captivating viewers' attention as the canvases seem to oscillate.

Riley's early works aimed to capture the dynamic brilliance of nature through non-figurative abstraction, focusing on conveying the sensations and emotions inspired by natural phenomena rather than directly representing landscapes.

Throughout the 1960s, Riley evolved her practice by incorporating grey tones into her artworks. However, it was her pioneering black-and-white compositions that catapulted her to international acclaim after her debut solo exhibition at Gallery One in 1962.

Riley attributes her deep interest in colour and form to the influences of Italian Futurists and French masters like Henri Matisse and Georges Seurat. Her practice also reflects elements of Pointillism and Divisionism, modern art movements that explore the eye's capacity to perceive colours juxtaposed to create a fuller spectrum. Like predecessors such as Sonia Delaunay and Josef Albers, Riley sought to elicit emotional responses from viewers through her use of colour.

Bridget Riley, a pioneering figure in the Op-Art movement, continues to innovate at 91 years old. Over the past year, total print sales in the Riley market have reached £814,041.

Riley's prints offer a diverse range of colors, design compositions, paper sizes, edition sizes, and span from the 1960s to the 2020s. Each print is an independent work of art, distinct from her paintings and not merely reproductions in a smaller format.

Her prints have garnered a growing international following. In 2020, the UK dominated the market with 81% of sales, while the US accounted for 10% and other countries 9%. By 2021, the UK's share decreased to 79%, with the US market increasing to 7.5% and other countries rising to 13.5%.