5 Facts About M.C. Escher That Will Bend Your Mind
M.C. Escher is well known for his surreal, reality-warping engravings -- two hands drawing each other, infinite staircases, fish changing into birds and back again. Never an art-world celebrity, he was nonetheless beloved by everyone from counterculture youth to mystics and scientists.
As a result, his work has inspired plenty of crazy ideas about alternative realities, mysticism, and mental emancipation. And hes been a great and humble sport about them all. Once, when a woman called him , saying, "Mr. Escher, I am absolutely crazy about your work. In your print Reptiles you have given such a striking illustration of reincarnation, he responded simply: Madam, if that's the way you see it, so be it.
He eventually elaborated: "In my prints, I try to show that we live in a beautiful and orderly world and not in a chaos without norms, as we sometimes seem to."
To commemorate Escher's birthday on Wednesday, and decades of Escher mythologizing, we offer you five mind-bending factoids on his life, influences, and legacy -- that are actually true. Behold:
1. He was not a mathematician -- in fact, he wasn't even a good math student.
Contrary to popular belief, Escher had little background in or talent for math. In fact, he had poor grades, failed his high school exams, and dropped out of architecture school to study decorative arts.
That all changed 15 years later when he read a paper by George Plya on plane symmetry groups," repetitive patterns on two-dimensional surfaces. The paper inspired his work for decades to come, though Escher admits he understood little of the mathematical theory behind it.
As his interest in geometries developed, Escher would study topology, work with H.S.M. Coxeter on tessellations, and form a lasting collaboration with Roger Penrose that explored mathematically impossible forms -- which inspired his canonical Ascending and Descending.
2. He started out by drawing landscapes and animals.
Before his hands were drawing hands drawing hands, Escher developed a penchant for scenery. A trip through Italy in the early 20s imprinted the landscape on his mind, and he spent many years on representational art of its countryside.
The best-known example is Castrovalva , an early lithograph that generated positive critical response, but others like Atrani, Coast of Amalfi and The Bridge are similarly stunning. Dolphins and Phosphorescent Sea show an early preoccupation with aquatic forms and light.
3. He had a revelation when looking at Moorish art.
Eschers work took a radical turn after a 1936 voyage through the Mediterranean and a visit to The Alhambra, an Islamic palace in Granada, Spain. The geometric, fractal-like patterns in Moorish art inspired him to depart from landscapes and work with interlocking patterns instead of discrete objects -- a style seen in the series Regular Division of the Plane and Sky and Water, among other works. Many people assume those structures began with Eschers interest in math, but they were actually first motivated by copying, then developing, the aesthetics of The Alhambra. The mathematical theory behind the patterns came later.
On top of this, while Moorish art and the complex math behind it are commonly seen as the main inspirations for Escher, he may have also drawn from Japanese woodblock prints. Hokusais "Fuji from the Sea" and The Great Wave off Kanagawa feature a strikingly similar optical illusion to Sky and Water I" and "II," in which birds turn into ocean water. If the connection seems far-fetched, remember that Hokusais work was all the rage in Europes art scene in the second half of the 19th century. So even if Escher did not consciously copy the style, he very likely was exposed to the prints.
4. His work has made secret Hollywood appearances.
Eschers works have inspired plenty of alternative universes, but two of his more prominent "appearances" occur in Middle Earth and Christopher Nolan's dreamscapes. Yes, the design for the Mines of Moria in the "Lord of The Rings" trilogy film adaptations was likely inspired by " Procession in Crypt ," and there were originally plans for even more direct references. A cut scene from "The Two Towers" movie featured an endless staircase modeled directly on "Relativity."
Inception, too, made use of infinite staircases and impossible buildings within its dreamworlds. Shall we take a look at some paradoxical architecture? asks Arthur as he coaches Ariadne into building a mutated, six-sided Paris. Nolan has cited Escher as an inspiration, which is fitting, since Escher, when asked about potential substance-use, once said: I don't use drugs, my dreams are frightening enough.
5. He almost designed the currency for the Dutch Central Bank.
In 1950, De Nederlandsche Bank held a competition to create new guilder banknotes, and Escher sent a series of sketches. In addition to his characteristic illusions and geometric designs, his banknotes featured the scientist Van Leeuwenhoek, a founder of modern microbiology.
Sadly, the designs were rejected for being "too ornate" -- yet another example of the world misunderstanding Escher.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/17/mc-escher-facts_n_7595668.html
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M C Escher is a great illustrator
These are great pieces
Enjoy!
Wow, just wow.
No doubt about that!!!
Kavika
That was my reaction in a single word
Glad you liked them!
Six
Glad you liked them - thanks for the feedback
Escher has been my favourite graphic artist for most of my life - I have a book of his works. Somewhere in our archives is an article I did about him. I would add a 6th factoid, that he was a perfectionist, and I offer the first illustration up above as my evidence. It is called Metamorphosis, and in that long horizontal pattern there are many changes. Near the end, a diagram of a city turns into a chess game and then there are two more changes to reach the end , which is, in fact, identical to the beginning.
Out of curiosity, I set up my chess board with the pieces in the same location on the board. There could only be two consecutive moves, and they are two moves to checkmate - two moves to the end .
Fascinating and brilliant.
Buzz
Thanks for the feedback and the perspective
I thought I remembered that Escher was one of your favorites.
I'm glad his work was not accepted for currency design . Currency is far too limited for a mind like his ...
Or perhaps it is the curiosity and minds of those looking at his work that are too limited....
Apparently you are in favor of radical designs for currency . I expect the majority of currency holders would find that disquieting . Is that the "cost of doing new business" ? Or is my perception inaccurate ?
Petey
I have no idea what your perception is, so I cannot say that it is accurate or inaccurate.
Whether currency has complex designs, pictures of very old men and women or simply a number it is still currency, the minds of those that object to complexity of design are where the limitations lie in my view
I've been speaking in song lyrics all day... I wish I could stop it!
These are "hauntingly familiar"... Now, if I can just think of the song whose words those are...
Could it be Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks?
A general term for Escher's works is "TESSELLATION".
Thanks for the multi-dimensional geometry lesson . Well done ... or quoted .
A Mac
Thanks for that information, tessellation now that is a mouthful for sure, I would sum up Escher in one word as well fascinating or maybe beautiful or still better intriguing.
It is one of those words for sure