SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Yaacov Agam

In Yaacov Agam’s work, the work of art is not presented as a still image: it introduces time into form and changes with the viewer’s movement or intervention. Fragmented, abstract and colourful geometric motifs can thus be recombined in several ways. Born in 1928 in Rishon LeZion, he studied at the École des beaux-arts Bezalel in Jerusalem from 1946 to 1948, then moved to Zurich in 1949 to study at the Kunstgewerbe Schule with Johannes Itten. This training was grounded in a theoretical and rational approach to the creative process.

After a stopover in Paris in 1951, Agam chose to settle there. In 1953, his first solo exhibition, at the Galerie Craven, presented the Tableaux transformables and laid the foundations for his concept of kinetic art; it was on this occasion that he adopted the name Agam. The Tableaux transformables announced a practice in which composition is not confined to a single configuration: the gaze and movement of the public contribute to its variations.

From 1966, the artist developed a sculptural system made up of mobile geometric segments, moved around an axis or conceived as autonomous elements. The repetition of elementary forms, identical or progressively larger, extends his explorations of transformation and movement into space. He also created monumental tubular-steel sculptures, including Toutes directions, in La Roche-sur-Yon, and Tente, 14 metres high, for the Faculté des Sciences Mirande of the University of Burgundy in Dijon.

The presence of his works in public collections is evidenced by the acquisition of Double Metamorphosis II by the Museum of Modern Art in 1964, followed by that of Double métamorphose III by the Centre Pompidou in 1968. Retrospectives of his work were held at the Musée national d’Art moderne in Paris in 1972, and at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 1980. In 2018, the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art opened in Rishon LeZion, his birthplace.

This profile brings together identity references for Yaacov Agam and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

11 references are documented at Germann, Kornfeld. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.

Works recorded at auction

Kornfeld · Lot 738

Visual orchestration

Gouache

Original catalogue wording

Visual orchestration
gouache

Catalogue period : 2021-09-03

Published result : 2600 CHF

Hammer price, excluding fees

Estimate : CHF 2000

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Germann · Lot 901

Rendezvous II

Two-part multiple. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass

Original catalogue wording

Rendez-vous II
Multiple, 2-teilig. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Catalogue period : 2019-11-27

Published result : 320 CHF

Hammer price, excluding fees

Estimate : CHF 200–400

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Germann · Lot 702

Image Magic

Multiple. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass

Original catalogue wording

Image Magic
Multiple. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Catalogue period : 2015-06-10

Published result : 1300 CHF

Hammer price, excluding fees

Estimate : CHF 500–700

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Germann · Lot 703

I-mage Magic

Multiple. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass

Original catalogue wording

I-mage Magic
Multiple. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Catalogue period : 2014-06-04

Published result : 750 CHF

Hammer price, excluding fees

Estimate : CHF 500–700

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Germann · Lot 302

I-mage Magic

Multiple. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass

Original catalogue wording

I-mage Magic
Multiple. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Catalogue period : 2013-11-26

Published result : 800 CHF

Hammer price, excluding fees

Estimate : CHF 500–700

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Germann · Lot 303

Rendezvous I–III

Six-part multiple. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass.

Original catalogue wording

Rendez-vous I-III
Multiple, 6-teilig. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Catalogue period : 2013-11-26

Published result : 700 CHF

Hammer price, excluding fees

Estimate : CHF 600–900

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Germann · Lot 301

Image Magic

Multiple. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass

Original catalogue wording

Image Magic
Multiple. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Catalogue period : 2012-11-27

Published result : 900 CHF

Hammer price, excluding fees

Estimate : CHF 400–600

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Germann · Lot 353

Image Magic

Object. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass

Original catalogue wording

Image Magic
Objekt. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Catalogue period : 2010-05-19

Published result : 1100 CHF

Hammer price, excluding fees

Estimate : CHF 500–700

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Germann

Image Magic

Object. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass

Original catalogue wording

Image Magic
Objekt. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Date to be documented

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Germann

Image Magic

Object. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass

Original catalogue wording

Image Magic
Objekt. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Date to be documented

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Germann

Image Magic

Object. Colour screenprint on acrylic glass

Original catalogue wording

Image Magic
Objekt. Farbserigrafie auf Acrylglas.

Date to be documented

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Sources and references

• Reference record
• LoC · Reference link only; institutional text and images are not reproduced.
• NDL · NDL Terms of Use (source attribution)
• Documentary source
• Documentary source

SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19