Vera Molnar, Possibilities

With the exhibition *Vera Molnar: Possibilities*, the Kunstmuseum Basel offers a glimpse into the graphic work of the grande dame of digital art. The 28 prints on display, some of which are multi-part works, were produced between 1991 and 2023 at the Éditions Fanal studio in Basel.

Vera Molnar (1924–2023) was interested in what happens when a characteristic of a geometric shape is slightly altered. To this end, she used her “imaginary machine” starting in 1959. Using this device, she calculated her compositions step by step—in her head. In 1968, Molnár was able to work with a computer for the first time. The immense combinatorial capacity of the machines allowed the artist to “systematically investigate the infinite field of possibilities.” Throughout her life, the computer remained an important tool for her formal experiments. With her plotter drawings (from the English “to plot”: to trace), she became a pioneer of media art.

Geometric representations marked the work of Molnár, who was born in Budapest, from the moment she arrived in Paris, her adopted city, in 1947. The artist particularly enjoyed working with the square. Its four sides of equal length, perpendicular to one another, give it great stability. Molnar deliberately sought to disrupt this balance. Her works show how slight shifts between the various elements are enough to create significantly more unstable situations.

Molnar’s works were often inspired by everyday impressions gathered during train journeys or visits to cafés, which she sketched in her diaries. The white triangles on a blue background in the silkscreen series *Triangles* (2023) appear at first glance to be a rigorous geometric study. In reality, the five compositions are inspired by the light streaming through the door of Molnar’s room in her retirement home, which shifted throughout the day. In this context, the formal study takes on a poetic dimension, and Molnár’s work encourages a careful observation of one’s own surroundings.

A large part of Vera Molnar’s graphic work was created in Basel, in the studio of Éditions Fanal, located in the former paper mill in the Sankt Alban-Tal district. When the studio ceased operations in the spring of 2025, Fanal made a significant donation to the Kupferstichkabinett Basel (Cabinet of Graphic Arts).

Exhibition curated by Fabienne Ruppen