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Transcript of M.C. Esch Grap
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M C ES C H E R®The Graphic Work
Introduced and explained y the artist
T SCH ENHONG KONG KOLN LONDON LOS NGELES M DR I D PAR IS TOKYO
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FRONT COVER:
Sky and w ter I 1938Woodcut, 44 x 44 em
BACK COVER:
M. C. EscherPhoto: Bruno Ernst
2007 TASCHEN GmbH·Hohenzollernring 53, D-50672 Kbln
www schen com1989 for all M.C. Escher reproductions:
Cordon Art - Baarn - HollandEnglish translation: John E. BrighamThe title was published in 1959 by
Koninklijke Erven J.J.Tij l N.V. Zwolle,under the ti tle M.C. Escher Grafiek en Tekeningen .
This 2009 edition published by Barnes & Noble, Inc.,by arrangement with TASCHEN GmbH.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or t ransmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without prior written permission from the publisher.
Barnes & Noble, Inc.122 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
ISBN: 978-1-4351-1858-4
Printed and bound in Singapore
1 3 5 7 9 1 8 6 4 2
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Contents
Introduction 5Classif ication and Description 7
I a rly prints7 Tower of Babel2 Castrova lva3 Pa lm4 Portrait G A Escher5 Fluorescent sea6 St . Peter Rome
Dream
II Regular division of a plane8 Swans9 Horsemen7 Two intersecting planes
Day and night
72 Sun and moon73 Sky and water I74 Sky and water II75 Liberation76 Development I77 Verbum78 Sphere surface with fishes79 Path of life II2 Smaller and sma ller
27 W hirlpools22 Circle limit I23 Square limit24 Circle limit Ill
5 Circle limit IV
26 Fishes and sca les27 Butterflies8 Reptiles
29 Cycle3 Encounter37 Magic mirror
32 Metamorphose33 .Predest ination4 Mosaic I35 Mosaic II
Ill Unlimited spaces36 Depth37 Cubic space division38 Three intersecting planes
IV. Spatial rings and spirals39 Knots4 Moebius band II47 Concentric rinds42 Spirals
43 Sphere spirals44 Moebius band I45 Rind46 Bond of union
V. Mirror images47 Rippled surface48 Puddle49 Three worlds5 Still li fe with reflecting globe
57 Hand wi th re flecting globe
5 Three spheres II53 Dewdrop
54 Eye
VI Inversion55 Cube with magic ribbons56 Concave and convex
VII Polyhedrons57 Double planetoid
58 Tetrahedral planetoid59 Order and chaos6 Gravitation
67 Stars62 Flat worms
VIII Relativities63 Another world II64 High and low
65 Cur l-up66 House of stairs67 Relativity
IX . Conflict flat spatial68 Three spheres I69 Drawing hands1 a lcony
77 Doric columns72 Print gallery73 Dragon
X Impossible buildings7 4 Belvedere75 Ascending and descending16 Waterfa ll
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Eight heads woodcut stamped pr int 1922.Th is is the first regular division of a plane surface carried
out by the artist when he was a pupil of the School of
Architecture and Decorative Art s n Haarlem. It indicatesat whatan ea rl y stage hefelt drawn to rhyth mic repetition.In th e origina l wood b lock eight heads were cut four
female and four male. Space can be filled to infi nity w ithcontiguous pr ints
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ntroduction
Anyone who applies himself, from his early youth, to the
practice of graphic techniques may wel l reach a stage at
wh ich he begins to hold as his highest idea l the completemastery o his craft . Excellence of craftsmanship takes up
all his time and so complete ly absorbs his thoughts that hewi ll even make his choice of sub ject subordinate to his
desire to exp lore some particular facet of technique. Trueenough, there is tremendous satisfaction to be derived
from the acquisition of artistic ski ll and the achievementof
a thorough und erstanding of the properties of the
mater ial to hand, and in learning w ith true purposefulness
and contro l to use the too ls wh ich one has available
- above all , one's own two hands
I myselfpassed manyyears in thisstateof self-delusion. But
then there came a moment when it seemed as though
scales fell from my eyes. I discovered that technicalmastery wasno longer my sole aim, for I became gripped
by another desire the existence of which I had never
suspected. Idea s came into my mind quite unrelated to
graphic ar t, notions which so fascinated me that I longedto communicate them to other people. This could not be
achieved through words, for these thoughts we re not
literary ones, but mental images of a kind thatcan on ly be
made comprehensible to others by presenting them as
visual images. Suddenly the method by which the imagewas to be presented became less important than it used to
be. One does not of course study graphic art for so many
years to no availi not only had the craft become secondnature to me, it had also become essential to continue
using some techniqu e of reproduction so that I couldcommunicate simu ltaneously to a large number of myfellow men that which I was aiming at.
If I compare the way in wh ich o graphic sheet from mytechnique pe riod came into being with that of a print
expressing a pa rt icular train of thought, then I realize that
they are almost po les apart. W hat often happened in thepost was that I would pick out from a pile of sketches one
which it seemed to me might be suitable for reproductionby means of some technique that'was interesting me at
that moment in time. But now it is f rom amongst thosetechniques, wh ich I have to some degree mastered, that I
choose the one which lend s tself more than any other, to
the expression of he pa rticular idea that ha sta ken hold of
my mind.
N owadays the growth of a graphic image can be divided
into two sharply defined phases. The process beginsw iththe search for a visual form such as will interpretas clearlyas poss ible one's train of thought. Usually a long timeelapses before I decide that I have got it clear in my mind .
Yet a mental image s something completely d ifferent from
a visual image, and however much oneexertsoneself, one
can never manage to cap ture the fullness of that perfection which hovers in th e mind and which one thinks of,quite falsely as something that is se en . After a long
series of attempts, at ost - when Iam justaboutat the endof my resources - I manage to cost my lovely dream in thedefective visual mould of a detailed conceptual sketch.
Regu lar division of a plane nr. 99, VIII 1954
After this, to my great rel ief, there dawns the second
ph ase that isthe making of the graphic printi for now the
spirit con toke its rest whil e the work is toke n over by thehands.In 1922, w hen I left the School of Architecture and
Ornamental Design in Hoa rlem, ha ving learnt graphic
techniques from S. Jessurun de Mesquita, Iwas very muchunder the influence of this teacher, whose strongpersonality certainly left its mark on the maj ority o f his
pupils. At hat period thewoodcut (that is o say the cu ttingwith gouges in a side-grained block of wood, usuallypear) was more in vogue wi th graphic artists than is thecase today. I inherited from my teacher his predilection for
side-grained wood, and one of the reasons for my everlasting gratitude to him stems from the fact that he taugh
me how to handle this material. During the first seven
yea rs of my time in Ita ly I used nothing else. It lends itselfbetter than the costly end -g rained wood, to large-sized
figures. In my youthful recklessness I ha ve gouged awayat
eno rmous pieces of pearwood, not short of three feet inleng th and perhaps two feet w ide. I was not unti ll929 tha
Imademy first lithograph, and then in 19311 tried my hand
for the fi rst time at wood-engraving, that is to sayengraving with burins on an end-grain block. Yet eventoday the woodcut remains for me an essential medium.
Whenever one needs a greater degree of tinting orcolou ring in order to communicate one' s ideas, and for
th is reason has to produce more than one block, the
wood cut offers many advantages over wood-engraving,and there have been many paints in recent years that
could not ha ve produced had I not gained a thoroughknowledge of the advantages of side-grained wood. Inmaking a colourprint I have often combined both of heseraised ·relief techniques, using end-grain for details inblack, and side-grain for the colours.The period du ring which I devoted such enthusiasm to myresearch into the characteristics of graphic materials and
during which I ca me to realize the limitations hat one musimpose on onese lf when deal ing with them, lasted from
1922 until about 1935. During that time o Iorge numberoprints came into being (about 70 woodcuts and
engravings and some 40 lithographs) . The greate
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Classification and description
of the numbered reproductions
egular division of a pl ne with two symmetrical nd
congruent motifs
I. Early prints 1 7
Th e seven prints in this group, selected from a Iorgenumberwhichwere made before 1937, display no unity as
for os their subject matter is concerned. They are allrepresentations of observed reality. Even no. 7 (Dream),although pure fantasy, consists of elements which, taken
separately, are rea listically conceived.
1. Tower of Babel woodcut, 1928, 62 x 38.5 emOn the assumption that the period of language confusioncoincided with the emergence of different races, some of
the bui lding workers ore wh ite and others black. The work
is at a standstill because they are no longer able to under
stand each other. Seeing that the climax of the drama
ta kes place at the summit of the tower which is under
construction, the bui lding has been shown from above, as
thoughfrom a bird seyeview. Thiscalledforaverysharp ly
receding perspective. It was not until twenty years laterthat this problem was thorough ly thought out. (see 63,
Another World et seq).
2. Castrovalva lithograph, 1930, 53 x 42 em
A mountainous landscape in the Abruzzi.
3. Palm woo d-engraving printed from two blocks,1933, 39.5 x 29.5 em
4. Portrait of the engineer G. A. Escher father of the
artist, in his 92nd year, lithograph, 1935, 26.5 x 21 em
7
In the case of the portraiture of someone w ith stronglasymetrical features, a great deal of the likeness is lost ithe print, for this is the mirror image of the original workIn this inst ance a contra print was made; that is to say, whilthe ink of the first print was still wet on the paper, this wa
printed on to a second sheet, thereby annulling the mirro
image. The proof brings out the signature that h
himself wrote on the stone with lithographic chalk an
which is now to be seen, doubly mirrored, back in i
original form.
5 . Fluorescent sea lithograph, 1933,
33 x 24 .5 em
6. St. Peter Rome wood-engraving, 1935,24 x 32 em
The convergence of the vertical lines towards the nadi
suggests the height of the building in which the viewe
finds himself togetherwith the fee ling ofvertigothattake
hold of him when he looks down.
7. Dream woodcut, 1935, 32 x 24 emIs the bishop dreaming about a praying locust, or is th
whole conception a dream of the artist?
II. The regular division of a plane 8 35
This is the richest source of inspiration that I have eve
struck; nor has it yet dried up. The symmetry dr awings o
the foregoing and following pages show how a surfac
can be regularly divided into, or filled up with, similarshaped figures which are contiguous to one another
without leaving any open spaces .
The Moors were past masters of this. They decoratewa lls and floors, particularly in the Alhambra in Spainby placing congruent, multi-coloured pieces o
majolica together without leaving any space
between. What a pity it is that Islam did not permthem to make g raven images . They always restrictethemselves, in their massed t iles, to designs of an abstrac
geometrical type. Not one single Moorish artist, to th
best of my knowledge, ever made so bold {or maybe th
idea never occurred to him) as to use concreterecognizable, naturistically conceived figures of fish
birds, reptiles or human beings as e lements in theirsurfac
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ymmetry draw ing A
ymmetry drawing B
ymmetry draw ing C
8
coverage. This restriction is all the more unaccepta
to me in that the recognizability of the componentsmy own des igns is the reason fo r my unfa ili ng interin this sphere.
a. Glide Reflexion 8 9 10
Anyone who wishes to achieve symmetry on a fla t surfamust take account of th ree funda mental principlescrystallography: repeated shift ing {translation); turnabout axes (rotation) and glid ing mirror ima
{reflexion). It would be an exaggerat ion to attemptdiscuss al l th ree of them in th is shor t treatise, but seeithat glide reflexion is defi nitely displayed in three of
prints, I must pay specia l attention to it.
8. Swans wood-eng rav ing, 1956, 20 x 32 em
Th e swans in this exampl e of glide reflexion are flyiround in a closed ci rcuit for med like a recumbent figueight. In order to pass over to its mirror image, each b
has go t to raise itself up like a flat biscuit sprinkled wsugar on one side and spread withchocolate on the othIn the middle, where the white and bl ack streams crothey fi ll up each other s open spaces. So a complete
square surface pattern is created . {See also symme
drawing B
9 Horsemen woodcut printed from three bloc1946, 24 x 45 em
In orde rto indicatetha tthe light-sha ded horsemen are tmirror images of the dark-shaded ones, a circular band
portrayed on which a procession of horsemen movforwa rd. One can imagine it to be a length of materi
with a pattern woven into it, the warp and woof beingdifferent colours. Th e dark knigh ts on the ligbackground thereby change colou r on the reverse sideth e band. In the middle both front and back have becomenmeshed, and now it ap pears that light and da
horsemen together f ill up the space completely. See al
symmetry drawing A.
10. Two intersecting planes woodcut printed fromthree blocks, 1952, 22 x 32 em
Two thin, fla t rectangular boards intersect each other a
slight angle. Holes have been sawn in each board leavi
openings shaped like f ishes and birds. The holes in o
board can be filled up by the remaining parts of the oth
boa rd. The jigsaw pieces of the one ore mirror images
those in the other {see also symmetry draw ing C .
b The function of figures as a bac:kgrou nd -14
O ur eyes are accustomed to f ixing upon a specific obje
Th e moment th is happens everything round abobecomes reduced to background.
11 Day and night woodcu t printed from two block1938, 39 x 68 em
Grey rectangu lar f ields develop upwards into si lhouettof white and black birds; the black ones a re flying towar
the left and the white ones towards the right, in twopposing format ions. To the left of the p icture the wh
birds flow together and merge to form a daylight sky an
landscape. To the r ight the black birds melt together innight . Th e day and night landscapes are mirror mages
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each other, united by means of he grey fields out of which,once aga in, the birds emerge.
12. Sun and moon wo odcu t printed from four blocks,1948, 25 x 27.5 emThe subject of this coloured woodcut is once again the
contrast between day and night. But in this instance the
two notions ore not, as in prin t 11, pictured as next to each
other but in the some plac though not simul taneous,
being sepa rated by a leap of the mind. It is da y-tim e when
there is a sun shinin g in the centre, where the sun is
shooting outyellow and red rays. Aga inst this backgroundstand out fourteen dark blue birds. As soon as one divests
them of their function as objects an d regards them as
ba ckground, then there appear fourteen lig ht coloured
bi rdsagainst a night sky, with a crescent moon in the centreand with stars, planets and a comet.
13. Sky and water I woodcut, 1938, 44 x 44 emIn the horizontal central strip there are birds and fish
equivalent to each other. We associate flying with sky, and
so for each of the block birds the sky in wh ich it is flying is
formed by the four white fish which encircle it. Similarlyswimming makes us think of water, and therefore the fourblack b irds that surround a fish become the water in which
it swims.
14. Sky and water II, woodcut, 1938, 62 x40 .5 emSim ilar n subjecttothatin no. 13 Sky and Water 1), except
that the birds and fishes are to be seen here in direct as wellas in mirror image.
c Development of form and contrast 15-16-17
15. Liberation lithograph, 1955, 43.5 x 20 emOn the uniformly grey surface of a strip of paper that is
being un ro lled, a simultaneous development in form and
contrast is taking place. Triangles, at first scarcely visible,ch ange into more comp cated figures, whilst the co lour
contrast between them in creases. In the midd le they aretransformed into white and black b irds, and from there flyoff into the world as ind epende nt creatures. And so the
strip of pape r on which they were drawn disappears.
16. Development I woodcut, 1937, 44 x 44 em
Scarcely visible g rey squares at the edges evolve in form
and contrast towards the centre. Their g rowth iscompleted in the middle. An unsatisfactory feature of th is
kind of inward -directed unfolding is that there is so littlespace left for th.e freedom of movement of the most
greatly developed figures: two whi te and two black
reptiles.
17. Verbum lithograph, 1942 , 33 x 38 .5 emAn evolution working from the centre outwards, thus the
opposite way round to the previous print, offe rs more
space a t the edges for the fully grown figures. The central
word Verbum recalls the b iblical story ofcreation. Out
of a misty grey th e re loom triangular primeval figureswhich, by the time they reach the edges of the hexagon,have developed in to birds, fishes and frogs, each in its own
ele ment: ai r, water and earth. Each kind is pictured by day
and by night, and the crea tures merge into each other as
they move forwa rd along the ou tline of the hexagon , in aclockwise direction.
9
d. Infinity of number 18-27
If all component ports are equa l in size, it is impossible t
represent more tha n a fragment of a regular p lane-fi lling
If one wishes to illustrate on infinite number then one mus
have recourse to a g radual red uction in the size of thfigures, until one reaches- at any rote theoretically- th
lim it of infinite smallness.
18. Sphere surface with fishes woodcut printed from
two blocks, 1958, diameter 32 em
Th e previous print demonstrated a return motion towardthe starting point. There now follow va riations on tha
theme, with two cores, a starting point and an end poin
between which the chains of figures move. Here, as a firsexample, is a sphere with two poles and a ne twork o
lon g itudinal and lat itudinal circles. Swimming spirallou twards from the one visible po le, there come alternat
rows of white and black fishes. They attain their greates
size on reaching the equator and thereafter they becom
smaller and disap pear into the other, invisible, po le on thfor side of the sphe re.
19. Path of life II woodcut printed from two blocks
1958, 37 x 37 em
Here, too, thepointof infinitesmallnessisinthecentre. Thitime an attempt has been ma de to e li minate th
unsa tisfactory fea tu re o an illogical lim it. The area is fillewith white and grey fish-shaped figures whos
longitudina l axes ore accentuated by black lines. Ou
from the central point come fou r series of white fish {rays
swimming head to tail in a spiral motion. The four larges
specimens, which close off the square surface, chang
direction a nd co lour; th eir wh ite tails still belong to th
ce ntrifugal movement, but th eir grey heads ore a lread
tu rning inwards and so form part of the grey series whichore moving back towards the centre.
20. Smallerand smaller wood-engraving printed from
four blocks, 1956, 38 x 38 emThe area of each of the rept e-shaped e lements of thipattern is regu la rly and continuo usly halved in the direction of the centre, where theoretically both infinitsmallness of size and infinite greatness of number are
reached. However, in practice, the wood-engraver soon
comes to the en d of hi sabi lity to carry on. He is dependen
on foudactors: 1. the qu a lity of his wood-block, 2. thesharpness of the instrument that he is using, 3. the
steadiness of his hand an d , 4. his optical ability good
eyesight, plenty of light and a powerfu l magnifying lens)In this particular case, the halving of the figures is ca rriedthro ug h ad absurdum .The sm a llest animal still possessina head, a ta iland four legs is about 2 mil limetres in le ngth
From the point of view of composition, this work is onlypartially satisfactory. In sp ite of the central limit, it remain
only a fragment, because the outer edge of the pattern
has been arbitrarily fixed. So a comp lete composition ha
not been achieved.
21. Whirlpools wood-engraving printed fromtwo blocks, 1957, 45 x 23.5 emClosely related to the foregoing picture, there is here
displayed a flat surface with two visible cores. These are
bound toge ther by two white S-shaped spirals, drawn
through the bodily axes of, once again , fish swimm ing
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head to tail. But in this case they move forward in opposite
directions.The uppercore s the starting point or he dark
coloured series, the component members of which attain
their greatest size in the middle of the picture. From then
on, they come wi thin the sphere of influence of the lower
core, towa rdsw hich they keep on swirling until theydisappear within it. The other, light-coloured, line makes thesame sort of journey but in the opposite direction. As amatterof special printing technique, I would point out that
only one wood-block is used for both colours, thesehaving been printed one after the other on the same sheet
of paper, and turned 180 degrees in reflection to eachother. The two prints fill up each other's open spaces.
22. Circle limit I woodcut, 1958, diameter 42 em
Sofarfourexamples have been shown with po intsas limitsof infini te smallness. A diminution in the size of the figuresprogressing in the opposite direction, i.e. from withinoutwards, leads to more satisfying results. The limit is no
longera point, but a line which bordersthewholecomplex
and gives it a logical boundary. In this way one creates, asit were, a universe a geometrical enclosure. If theprogressive reduction in size radiates in all directions at anequal rate, then the limit becomes a circle. In the example
in q u ~ s t o n (chronolog ically the fi rst of the three wh ich
have been included in this book), the arrangement of thecomponent parts still lea ves much to be desired. All thelines, once again accentuated by the bodi ly axes, consistof alternating pairs of fish, two wh ite ones head to head
and two black ones whose ta ils touch. So there is no
continuity here, no direction offorward movement, nor s
there any unity of colour in each line.
23. Square limit woodcut printed from two blocks,1964, 34 x 34 em
Design number 20 {Smaller and smaller) showed apattern composed of elements continuously reduced by
half as they move in the direction of the centre. A similar
system of halving was adapted here, but this time moving
from with in outwards. The limit of the infinitely smal lshapes is reached on the straight sides of the square.
24. Circle limit I l l , woodcut printed from five blocks,1959, diameter 41.5 emHere the fa ilings of the previous wo rk are as far aspossible remedied. White curved lines cut across each
other and divide one another into sections, each of wh ichequals the length of a fi sh. They mark the routes along
which series offish move forward, from the infinitely small,through the greatest size, to infinitely small. Each series
comprises fish of only one colour. It s necessary to have at
least four colours so as to get the lines of fish to con trastwi th each other. It isworth mentioning, from the point of
view of printing technique, that five wood-blocks weremade, oneforthe black inesand fourfor thecolours. Eachblock has the shape of a right-ang led segment and so hasto be printed four times over in order to fill the circle.Therefore a complete copy of thisprint requires 4x 5 = 20
impress ions.
25. Circle limit iv {Heaven and Hell), woodcut printed
from two blocks 1960, diameter 41.5 em
Here, too, we ha ve the components dimi nishing in size asthey move outwards. The six largest (three white angelsand three black devils) are arranged about the centre and
10
radiate from it. The di sc is divided nto six sections in whiturn and turn about, the angels on a black backgrou
and then the devils on a wh ite one, gain the upper ha
In this way, heaven and hell change place six times. In
intermediate, earthly stages, they are equivalent.
26. Fishes and scales woodcut, 1959, 38 x 38 em
The final example in thisgroup brings in two different soof mutation, carr ied out at one and the same time, tha
to say both shape and size. Th e double process compleitself twice over. In the upper part of the print, from ri
to left, sca les grow into fish that keep on increasing in sIn the lower half the same th ing happens, but from lef
right .
27 . Butterflies wood-engraving, 1950, 28 x 26 em
Working downwards from the top to the centre, the wharea is divided up by black con tours of increasthicknesswhich takeon ever larger butterfly shapes; thecontinue to develop.
e . Story pictures 28 33
Th e chief characteristic of the six followi ng prints istransition from flat to spatial and vice versa. We think
terms of an interp lay between the stiff, crystallized twdimensional figures of a regular pattern and the ind
dual freedom of three-dimensional creatures capable
moving about in space without hindrance. On the o
hand, the members of planes of collectivity come to lifespace; on the other, the free ndividuals sink back and lo
themselves in the com munity. A row of identical spa
beings such as those to be found in the prints of this gro
often emerges to be treated as a single individual
motion. This is a static method of illustrating a dynam
fact. A few prints from each group, such as {Day a
night), 15 {Liberation) and 17 {Verbum) might alsocounted in this category, were it not for the fact that th
chief characteristic differs from that of the ones we ha
just been considering.
28 . Reptiles lithograph, 1943, 33.5 x 38.5 em
The life cycle of a little alligator. A mid all kinds of objec
a drawing book lies open, and the drawing on viewmosaic of reptilian figures in three contrasting shadEvidently one of them has tired of lying flat and rig
amongst his fellows so he puts one plastic-looking
over the edge of the book, wrenches him self free a
launches out nto rea life. He climbs up the back of a bo
on zoology and works his laborious way up the slippe
slope of a set square to the highest point of his existenThen after a quick snort, tired but fulfilled, he godownhill again, via on ashtray, to the level surface, to th
flat drawing paper, and meekly rejoins his erstwhfriends, taking up once more his function as an elemen
surface division.
N .B. The little bookofJob has nothing to do with the Bibbut contains Belgian cigarette papers.
29. Cycle lithograph, 1938, 47 .5 x 28 emAt the top right-hand corner a jolly young lad compopping out of his house. As he rushes downstairs he loshis special quality and takes his place in a pattern of l
grey, white and black fellow-shapes. Towards the left a
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upwards these become simplified into lozenges. Thedimension of depth is achieved by the combination of
three diamonds which give the impression of a cube. Thecube is joined on to the house from which the boy emerges.
The floor of a terrace is laid w ith the same familiar pattern
of diamond-shaped tiles. Th e hilly landscape at the top isintended to display the utmost three-dimension al realism,while the periodic pattern at the lower part of the pictureshows the greatest possible amount of two-dimensionalrestriction of freedom.
30. Encounter lithograph, 1944, 34 x 46.5 emOut from the grey surface of a back wall there develops a
complicated pattern of white and black figures of li ttlemen. And since men who desire to live need at least a floorto wa lk on, a floor has been designed for them, with acircular gap in the middle so that as much as possible can
sti ll be seen of the back wal l. In this way they are forced,notonlytowalkin a ring, but a Isoto meeteach other n theforeground: a white optimist and a black pessimist
shaking hands with one another.
31. Magic mirror li thograph, 1946, 28 x 44.5 emOn a tiled floor there stands a vertical reflecting screen out
of which a fabulous animal is born. Bit by bit it emerges,
until a complete beast walks away to the right. His mirrorimage setsofftowards the left, but he seems fairly substantial, for beh ind the reflecting screen he appears in quite arealistic guise. First of all they walk in a row, then two by
two, and finally both streams meet up four abreast. At the
same time they lose their plasticity. Like pieces of a ji9sawpuzzle they slide into one anothe r, fill up each other' sinterstices and fade into the floor on which the mirrorstands.
32. Metamorphose woodcut printed from twenty-nineblocks, 1939-40 and 1967-68, 19.5 x 700 emA long series of changing shapes. Out of the word
Metamorphose placed vertically and horizontally o n
th.e level surfa ce, with the letters 0 and M ( Greek E) aspoints of intersection, there emerges a mosaic of white
and black squares that changes into a carpet of flowersand leaveson which two bees have settled. Thereupon theflowers and leaves change back into squares aga in , onlyto be transformed once more, this time into animal shapes.
To use musical termino logy, we are dealing here with fourfour time.
Now the rhythm changes; a third shade is added to the
w hite and black and the measure changes to three-four
time. Each figure becomes simplified and the pattern
which at first was composed of squ ares now consists of
hexagons. Then fol lows an association of ideas; hexagons
makeone think ofthecellsin a honeycomb, and so in everycell there appears a bee la rva . The fully grown larvae tu rninto bees which fly off into space. But they are not
vo uchsafed o long life of freedom , for soon their blacksilhouettes join together to form a background for whitefish. As these also fuse together, the interstices seem to
take on the form of b lock birds. Similar transformations of
background objects now appear several times: dark
birds .. light-coloured boots .. dark fish ... light horses ..
dark birds. These become simplified into a pattern of
equilateral triangles which serve for a short whi le as acanvas on which winged letters are depicted but then
quickly turn once more into black bird shapes. Small gre
birds begin to appear in the white background and the
gain in size until theircontours equalthoseof heir fellowsSuch areas of white that still remain take on the form of
third variety of bird so that there are now three differenkinds, each with its own specific form and colour, filling th
surface completely. Now for another simplification: eac
b ird turns into a lozenge. Ju st as in print number 2
(CycleL this is an opportunity to pass over to the threedimensional, as three diamond shapes suggest a cube
The blocks give rise to a c ity on the sea-shore. The towe
standing in the water isat the sometime a piece in a gamof chess; the board for this game, with its light and dar
squares, leads back once more to the letters of the wor
Metamorphose .
33. Predestination lithograph, 1951 , 29 x 42 emAn aggressive, voracious fish and a shy and vulnerabl
bird are the actors in this drama: such co ntrasting traits o
character lead inevitably to the denouement. A regula
pattern floats like a ribbon in space. Lower down, in th
middle, this picture strip is made up of fish and birds, bu
by a substitution of figures, on ly birds remain on the lefside and fish on the right. Out from these gradually fadin
extremiti es, one representative of ea ch sort breaks loos
- a black, devilish fish and a white bird, all innocence, busad to say irrevocably doomed to destruction. The fate o
each is played out in the foreground.
f. Irregular filling of plane surfaces 34 35
The next two prints consist offigures that do not in anywa
repeat themselves in similar form. So they do not real lbe long to group ; neverthe less they we re added to
because they do in fact ha ve their surfaces filled up, witno spaces left empty.
What is more, they could never have been produced
w ithout years of training in regular surface-filling. Th
recognizability of the ir components as natural objectplays a more important ro le. The on ly reason for thei
existence is one's enjoyment of th is difficult game, withouany ul te rior motive.
34. Mosaic I, mezzotint, 1951, 14.5 x 20 emRegularity of construction can be recognized in thirectangular mosaic in that, both as regards height andbreadth, three light and three dark figures alternate li kthe squares on a chessboard. With the exception of thshapes round the edge, every white one is surrounded b
four black ones and every black by four white. The sumtotal can immediately be ascertained: 36 pieces, 18 whitand 18 black.
35. Mosaic II lithograph, 1957, 32 x 37 em
In this case the only regularity to be noted is threctangularity of the complete surface. There are but fewof the inner figures bordered by four adjacent ones. Thdirect environment of the frog consists of two figures; th
guitar is hemmed in by three, the cock by five and thostrich if that is what it really is) by six. The sum to tal can
only be arrived at by careful counting.
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Ill. Unlimited spaces 36 37 38
36. Depth wood-engraving printed from three
blocks 1955 32 x 23 emHere too space is divided up cubically. Each fish is found
at the intersection of three lines of fish all of which crosseach other at right-angles.
37. Cubic space division lithograph 195227 x 26.5 emIntersecting each other at right angles girders d ivide
each other into equal lengths each forming the edge of acube. In this way space is filled to infinity with cubes of the
same size.
38. Three intersecting planes wo odcut printed fromtwo blocks 1954 32.5 x 37 .5 emThree planes intersecteach other at rightangles. They are
indicated by squa re tiles with the same number of squa regaps between them. Each plane recedes in perspective toa vanishing point and the three vanishing points coincidewith the points of an equilateral triangle.
IV Spatial Rings and Spirals 39 46
39. Knots woodcut printed from three blocks 1965
43 x 32 em
Three unbroken knots are displayed here; that is to say asimpl e kno t has been tied three times over in a cord the
ends of wh ich run into each other. The perpendicular
cross-section of each knot isdifferent. In the top right hand
examp le the profile is round as in a sausage; the top left
one is cruciform with two flat bands intersecting each
other at right angles; below is a square hollow pipe withgaps through w hich the inside can be seen. If we start at
any arbitrary point and fo ow a flat wa with the eye then
it appears that we ha ve to make four rounds before wecome back to our point of departure. So th e pipe does not
consist of four separate strips but of one which runsthrough the knot four times. The knot shown at the top
right-hand corner is in principle every bit as interestingbut it remains undiscussed here as the draughtsman
hopes to devote a more detailed print to it in the future.
40. Moebius band II woodcut printed from three
blocks 1963 45 x 20 emAn endless ring-shaped band usually has two distinctsurfaces one inside and one outside. Yet on this strip ninered ants crawl after each other and travel the front side as
well as the reverse side. Therefore the strip has only one
surface.
41. Concentric rinds wood -engraving 1953 24 x 24 emFour spherical concentric rinds are illuminated by acentral source of light. Each rind consists of a network ofnine large circles which divide the surface of the sphere
in to forty-eight similar shaped spherical triangles.
42. Spirals wood-engraving printed from two blocks1953 27 x 33.5 emFour spira lling strips come together to form a curved
2
casing which as a narrowing torus returns to the pla
where it began penetrates within itself and starts onsecond round.
43 . Sphere spirals woodcut printed from four bloc1958 diameter 32cmHere just as in no. 18 a sphere is shown with a networklongitudinal and latitudinal circles. Four spirals twist thway around the spherical surface infini te ly small at
poles and broadest at the equator. Half of its yellexterior is visible. Through open la nes in its side the
interior can be followed to the opposite pole.
44. Moebius band I wood-engraving printedfrom fblocks 1961 24 x 26 emAn end less band has been cut through down its wh
length. The two sections have been drawn apart freach othe r a little sothata clear space divides them allway round. Thus the band ought to fall apart into tunattached rings and yet apparently it consists of o
single strip made up of three fish each biting the tai lof
one in front. They go round twice before rega ining thpoint of departure.
45. Rind wood-engraving printed from four bloc
1955 34.5 x 23.5 emLike the spirally shaped peel of a fruit and like a holl
fragmented sculpture the image of a woman flothrough space. The sense of depth is enhanced by a ba
of clouds which diminishes towards the horizon.
46. Bond of union lithograph 1956 26 x 34 emTwo spirals merge and portray on the left th e head o
woman and on the right that of a man. As an endl
band their foreheads intertwined they form a doub
unity. The suggestion of space is magnified by sphe
which float in front of within and behind the hollimages.
V Mirror images 47 54
a. Reflections in water 47 48 49
47. Rippled surface lino cut printed from two bloc1950 26 x 32 em
Two raindrops fall into a pond and with the concentrexpanding ripples thattheycause disturb the still reflexiof a tree with the moon behind it. The rings shownperspect ive afford the on ly means whereby the recedisurface of the water is indicated.
48 . Puddle woodcutprintedfromthreeblocks 1952
24 x 32 emThe cloudless evening sky is reflected in a puddle whicrecent shower has left in a woodland path. The trackstwo motor cars two bicycles and two pedestrians a
impressed in the foggy ground.
49. Three worlds lithograph 1955 36 x 25 em
Th is picture of a woodland pond is made up of thr
elements: the autumn leaves which show the recedisurface of the water the reflexion of three trees in
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background and, in the foreground, the fish seen through
the clear wa ter.
b. Sphere reflexions 50 54
50. Still life with reflecting globe lithograph, 1934 28.5 x 32.5 em
The same reflecting globe as the one shown in no. 5
Hand wi th Reflecting GiebeL but in this case viewedsideways on, like a bottle wi th a neck.
51. Hand with reflecting globe lithograph, 193532 x 21.5 emA reflect ing globe rests in the artist shand.ln his mirror he
can have a much more comp lete view of his surroundingsthan by direct observation, for nearly the whole of thearea around im four wa lls the floor and ceiling of hisroom are compressed, albeit distorted , within this littledisc. His head, or o be more precise, the point between hiseyes comes in the absolute centre. Whichever way he
turns he remains at the centre. The ego is the unshakablecore of his world.
52. Three spheres II lithograph , 1946 26 x 47 emThree spheres, of equal size but different in aspect, are
placed next to each other on a shiny table. The one on theleft is made of glass and filled with water, so it is transparent but also reflects. It magnifies the structure of he table
top on which it rests and at the same time mirrors aw indow. The right-hand sphere, with its matt surface,presents a light side and dark side more clearly than the
other two. The attributes of the middle one are the sameas those described in connection w ith no. 5 ; the whole of
the surrounding area is reflected in it. Furthermore itachieves, in two different ways, a triple unity, for not only
does it reflect its companions to left and right, but all threeof them are shown in the drawi ng on which the artist is
working.
53. Dewdrop mezzotint, 1948 8 x 24.5 emThis leaf from a succulent plant was in fact about 1 nch in
length. On it lies a dewdrop which shows a reflection of awindow and ye t at the same time serves as a lens whichmagnifies the structure ofthe leaf-veins. Quaintly shapedair-pockets, shining white, are trapped between the leaf
and the dewdrop.
54. Eye mezzotint, 1946 5 x 20 em
Here the artist has drawn his eye, greatly enlarged, in aconcave shaving mirror. The pupil reflects the one who
watches us all.
VI. Inversion 55 56
It was stated in connection wi th print no. 29 that acombination of three diamond-shapes can make a cube.Yet it still remains an open question as to whether we are
looking at this cube from within or without. The mentalreversal, this inward or outward turning, this invers ion of
a shape, is the game that is played in the two following
prints.
13
55. Cube with magic ribbons lithograph, 1957
3 x 3 emTwo endless circular bands, fused together in four places,are curved around the diagonals of a cube. Each strip hasa row of button-like protuberances. If w follow one of
these series wi th the eye then these nodules surrept itiouslychange from convex to concave.
56. Concave and convex lithograph, 195528 x 33.5 em
Three litt le houses stand near one another, each under a
crossvaulted roof. We have an exterior view of the lefthand house, an interiorview of the right-hand one and aneither exterior view or interior view of the one in themiddle, according to choice. There are several similar
inversions illustrated in this print; let us describe one of
them. Two boys are to be seen, playing a flute. The one onthe left is looking down through a w indow on to the roof
of the middle house; if he were to climb out of he window
he cou ld stand on this roof. And then i f he were to jump
down in front of it he would land up one storey lower, onthe dark-coloured floor before the house. And yet theright-hand flautist who regards that same cross-vault as aroof curving above his head, will find, if he wants to climb
out of his w indow that there is no floor for him to land on,
only a fathomless abyss.
VII. Polyhedrons 57 62
57. Double planetoid wood-engraving, printed fromfour blocks, 1949 diameter 37.5 emTwo regular tetrahedrons, piercing each other, f loat
through space as a planetoid . The light-coloured one is
inhabited by human beings who have completelytransformed their region into a complex of houses,br idgesand roads. The darker te trahedron has remained
in its natural state, with rocks, on which plants andprehistoric animals live. The two bodies fit together tomake a whole but they have no knowledge of each other.
58. Tetrahedral planetoid woodcut printed from two
blocks, 1954 43 x 43 em
This little planet inhabited by humans has the shape of aregular tetrahedron and is encircled by a sphericalatmosphere. Two of the four triangular surfaces with
which this body is faced, are visible. The edges w hichseparate them divide the picture into two. All the verticalli nes: the walls, houses, trees and people, point in thedirection of the core of the body - its centre of gravi ty
and all th e horizontal surfaces, gardens, roads, stretches
of wa ter n pools and canals are parts of a spherical crust.
59. Order and chaos lithograph, 1950 28 x 28 emA stellar dodecahedron is placed in the cent re and is
enclosed in a translucent sphere like a soap bubble. Thissymbol of order and beauty reflects the chaos in the shapeof a heterogeneous collection of all sorts of useless,
broken and crumpled objects.
60. Gravitation lithograph, coloured by hand, 1952
30 x 3 emHere once aga in is a stellar dodecahedron, encased in
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twelve flat, five-pointed stars. On each of these platformslives a tailless monster with a long neck and four legs. He
sits there with his lump caught beneath a flat-sidepyramid , each wall ofwh ich hasan opening, and through
this opening the creature sticks hishead and legs. But thepointed extremity of one animal's dwelling platform is atthe same time the wa ll of one of his fellow-sufferer'sprisons. All these triangular protrusions function both asfloors and as wa lls; so it comesabout that his print, the astin the seriesof polyhedrons, serves also as a transition to
the relativity group.
61. Stars wood -engraving, 1948, 32 x 26 emSingle, double and triple regu lar bodies float like starsthrough spa ce. In the midst of them is a system of threeregular octahedrons, indicated by their edges only. Twochameleons have been chosen as denizens of thisframework, because they are able to cling by their legsand tails to the beams of their cage as it sw ir ls throughspace.
62 . Flat worms lithograph, 1959 , 34 x 41.5 emBricks are usua lly rectangular, because in that way theyare most sui table for building the vert ical wa lls o f our
houses. But anyone who has anything to do with the
stacking of stones of a non -cubic type w ill be well awareof other possib ilities. For instance, one can make use of
tetrahedrons alternating with octahedrons. Such are thebasic shapes which are used to raise the buildingillustrated here. They are not practicable for humanbeings to build with, because they make neither vertical
walls nor horizonta l floors. However, when this building isfilled with water, flat worms can sw im in it.
VIII. Relativities 63-67
The underlying ideo in the following pictures is basicallythis: befo re pho tography was invented, perspective wasalways closely linked with horizon . Yet even at the time of
the Renaissance it was known that not only do thehorizontallinesofo building meet at a pointon the horizon(the famous vanish ing point ), but also the vertical linesmeet downward s at the nadir and upwa rds at the zenith.This is obvious w ith old ceil ing-paintings which havever tical perspective receding lines, such as pillars. But now
that photography ispart of our everyday lives, we reallyhave come to understand vert ical perspective. We haveonly to point our lens at the top or at the bottom of abu ilding to realize that architectural draughtsmen ore
simply taking the easy way out when they indicate
everything that stands vertically, in their perspectiveprojections, with parallel lines. In the following printsthevanishing po int has several different functions at one and
the-same time. Sometimes it is situated on the horizon, thenad ir and the zenith all at once.
63. Another world II wood-engraving printed fromthree blocks, 1947, 31.5 x 26 emThe interior of a cube-shaped building. Openings in thefive visible walls give views of three di fferen t landscapes.Th rough the topmost pair one looks down, almostvertica lly, onto the ground ; the middle wo are at eye-level
14
and show the horizon, while through the bottom pair o
looks straight up to the stars.
Each plane of the building, which unites nadir, horizand zenith, has a threefold function. For instance, the rplane in the centre serves as a wa ll in relation to
horizon, a floor in connectio n with the view through
top opening and a ceiling so far as the view to towardssta rry sky is concerned.
64 . High and low li thog raph, 1947, 50.5 x 20.5 em
In this print the same picture is presented twice over,viewed from two different points. The upperhalf showsview that an observer would get if he were about th
sto reys up; the lower half is the scene tha t would conf r
him if he were standing at ground level. If he shou ld tahis eyes off he latter and look upwards , then he wouldthe tiled floor on which he is standing, repeated ace iling in the centre of the composition . Yet this acts afloor for the upper scene. At the very top, this tiled flrepeats itself once again, purely as a ceiling.
65. Curl-up lithograph, 1951 , 17 x 23.5 em
The imaginary creature here portrayed and fudescribed goes into action in the following print.
66 . House of stairs lithograph, 1951 , 47 x 24 emN ow comes a further development of the concept
relativity that was displayed in the foregoing printsplayful element is introduced, one wh ich came up
discussion in connection w ith the regu lar dividing-up
surfaces, in other words glide reflexion. Roughly
whole of the top half of the print s the mirror image of
bottom half. The topmost flight of steps, down whiccurl -up iscrawling from left to right, is reflected twice ovonceinthe middleand then again nthe lower pa rt .On
stairs in the top right-hand corner, in the same way aalso shown in number 67, the distinction between asceing and descending is eliminated, for two rows of anim
are moving side by side, yet one row is going up andother down.
67 . Relativity lithograp h, 1953, 28 x 29 emHere we have three forces of gravity working perpdicularly to one another. Three earth-planes cut acreach other at right angles, and human beingsare livingeach of them.
It is impossible for the inhabitants of different worldswalk or sit or stand on the same floor, because they hdiffering conceptions of what is horizontal and wha
vertica l. Yet they may well share the use of the sastaircase.On the op sta ircase illustrated here, two peo
are moving sideby
sideand
in the some direction,and
one of them is going downstairs and the other upstaContactbetween them is out of the question because tlive in different worlds and therefore can haveknowledge of each other s exis tence.
IX . Conflict between the flat and the spatial68-
Our three-dimensional spa ce is the only true reality t
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we know. Th e two-dimensional is every bit as fictitious as
the four-d imensional, for nothing is flat, not even the mostfinely polished mirror. And yet we stick to the co nvention
that a wa ll or a piece of paper is flat, and curiously
enough, we still go on, as we have done since timeimmemorial, producing illusions of space on just suchplane surfaces as those. Surely it is a bit absurd to draw afew l nes and then claim: Thi s is a house . This odd situa tion is the theme of the next live pictures.
68. Three spheres I, wood-engrav ing, 1945,
28 x 7 emAt the top of this print the spatia l nature of a g lobe isbrought out as strongly as possible. Yet it is not a globe at
all, merely the projection ofoneon a piece ofpaperwhich
cou ld be cut out as a disc. In the middle, just such a paper
disc is illustrated, butfolded in two halves, one portve rtical
and the other horizontal , with the top sphere resting on
this Iotter. At the bottom another such disc is shown, but
unfolded this time, and seen in perspective as a circularta b le top.
69. Drawing hands lithograph, 1948, 28.5 x 34 emA piece of paper is fixed to a base with drawing pins. Aright hand is busy sketching a shirt-cuffupon this drawin g
paper. Atthis po int its wo rk is incomplete, buta little furtherto the rightithasalreadydrawna left hand eme rging froma sleeve in such detail that this hand has come right up out
of he flat surface, and in its turn it is sketching the cuff fromwhich the right hand is emerging, a s though it we re a livingmember.
70. Balcony l thograph, 1945, 30 x 23.5 emThe spatial nature of these houses is a fiction. The twodimensiona lnature of the paper on which it isdrown is notdisturbed- unless we give it a bang from behind. But the
bulge that can be seen in the centre is an illusion too, forthe paper stays flat.All that has been achieved is on expansion, a quadruple
magnificationin
the centre.
71 Doric columns wood-engraving printed from three
blocks, 1945, 32 x 24 em
The lower part of the left-hand column suggests a heavythree-dimensional stone object, and yet it is noth ing more
than a bit of ink on a piece of paper. So is turns out to be
a flat strip of paper which, havi ng been folded three times,has got itse lf jammed between the ceiling and the capital
ofthe right-hand column. Butthesomething applies to theright-hand column itself; from above it resem bles a ribbon
lying flat on the floor with the left-hand co lumn restingupon it.
72. Print gallery lithograph, 1956, 32 x 32 emAs a va riation on the theme of the print Balcony, namely,magnification towards the centre, we have here an expan
sion which curves around the empty centre in a clockwisedirection. We come in through a door on the lower rightto an exhibition ga llery where there are prints on stands
and wa lls Firstofallwepassa visitorwith his hands behind
his back and then, in the lower left-hand corner, a youngman who is already four times as big . Even his head has
expanded in relation to his hand . He is looking at th e lastprint in a series on th e wa ll and glancing at its details, the
boat, the water and the houses in the background. Then
5
his eye moves further on from left to right, to the ever
expanding blocks of houses. A wo man looks down
through her open window onto the sloping roof whichcovers the exhibition ga lleryi and this brings us back to
where we started our circuit. The boy sees al l these thingsas two dimensional details of the print that he is studying.
If his eye explores the surface further then he sees himselfas a part of the pr int.
73. Dragon wood -engraving, 1952, 32 x 24 emHowever much this dragon tries to be spatial, he remains
comple tely flat. Two in cisions are made in the paper onwhich he is printed. Then it is fo lded in such a way as to
leave two square openings. But this dragon is an obstinate
beast, and in spite of his two dimensions he persists in
assuming that he has threei so he sticks his head through
one of the holes and his tail through the other.
X Impossible buildings 74 75 76
74. Belvedere lithograph, 1958, 46 x 29.5 em
In the lower left foreground there lies a piece of paper on
which the edges of a cube are drawn . Two small circlesmark the places where edges cross eac h other. Which
edge comes atthefront and which at the back? In a three
dimensional wo rld simultaneous front and back is an
impossibility and so cannot be illustrated . Yet it is qui te
possible to draw an object which displays a differentrea lity when looked at from above and from be low. Thelad sitting on the bench has got just such a cube-likeabsurdity in his hands. He gazes thoughtfully at thisincomprehensible ob ject and seems oblivious to the fa ctthat the be lvedere behind him has been built in the same
impossible style. On the floor of the lower platform, thatis
to say indoors, stands a ladder w hich two people are busycl imbing. Butas soon as they arrive a floor higher they are
back in the open air and ha ve to re-enter the building. Isit any wonder that nobody in this company can be
bothered about the fate of the prisoner in the dungeon
who sticks his head through the bars and bemoans hisfate?
75. Ascending and descending lithograph, 1960,
38 x 28.5 emThe en dless stairs which are the main motif of this picturewere taken from an a rticle by L S and R Penrose in the
February, 1958, iss ue of the British Journal of Psychology.A rectangular inner courtyard is bounded by a buildingthat is roofed in by a never-ending stairway. Theinhabitants of these living-q uarters would a ppear to be
monks, adherents of some unknown sect. Perhaps it is their
ritua l duty to climb those stairs for a few hours each day.It would seem that when they get tired they are allowed to
turn about and go downstairs instead of up. Yet both directions, though not without meaning, are equally useless.Two recalcitrant individuals refuse, for the time being, totake any part in this exercise. Th ey have no use for it at all,but no doubt sooneror later they will be brought to see the
error of their nonconformity.
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76. Waterfall lithograph 1961 38 x 30 em
In the same art icle in the British Journal of Psychology aswas mentioned in connection with the foregoing print, R
Pen rose publishes the perspective drawing of a triangle. A
copy of this is reproduced here.It is composed of square beams which rest upon eachother at right-angles. If we follow the various parts of thisconstruction one by one we are unable to discover any
mistake in it. Yet it s an impossible who le because changessuddenly occur in the interpretation of distance betweenour eye and the object.
This impossible triang le is fitted three times over into thepicture. Falling water keeps a millwheel in motion and
subsequently flows along a slopir.g channel between two
towers, zigzagging down to the point where the waterfall
begins again. The miller simply needs to add a bucketfulof water from time to time, in order to compensate for loss
through evaporation The two towers are the same height
and yet the one on the right is a storey lower than the one
on the left.
16
Maurits Corne lis Escher, born in Leeuwarden, 17 J1898 received his first instruction in drawing atsecondary school in Arnhem, by F W van der Haag
who helped him to develop his graphic aptitudeteaching him the technique of the linoleum cut. F1919 to 1922 he studied at the School of Architec
and Ornamental Design in Haarlem, where he wasstructed in graphic techniques by S Jesserun de M
quita, whose strong personality greatly influenEscher s further development as a graphic artist. In 1he went to Ita ly and settled in Rome in 1924. During
ten-year stay in Italy he made many study tours, visiAbruzzia , the Amalfi coast, Calabria, Sicily, Co rs
and Spain. In 1934 he left Italy, spent two years in Szerland and five years in Brussels before settlingBaarn (Holland) in 1941, where he died on 27 Ma
1972, at the age of 73 years.
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1
Tower o obel
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2astrovalva
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3
m
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4G A Escher
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6.
St. Peter Rome
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ream
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Swans
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Horsemen
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Two intersecting planes
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11ay and night
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un nd moon
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3
Sky and w t r I
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14
ky on woter
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15
Liberation
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16
Development I
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17erbum
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18 phere surface with fishes
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ath o lif
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20
Smaller nd smaller
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21
hirlpools
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? 2ircle \imil
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quare l imit
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2 A Circle \iroil Ill
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25
Circle limit V
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Butterflies
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28
eptiles
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30
n ount r
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32Metamorphose
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33
redest n t o n
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34
osaic
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35
osaic
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epth
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37
ubic space division
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38
hree intersecting planes
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nots
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42
pirals
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43 Sphere spirals
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5ind
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46
on of union
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47
Rippled surface
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48
Pu le
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49
hree worl s
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50t l l life with reflecting globe
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51Hand w h reflecting globe
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52
Three spheres
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53 Dewdrop
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ye
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55
ube w t magic ri on s
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56
oncave and convex
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57Doubl planetoid
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58
tr he r l pl netoid
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9
Order and chaos
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60
ravitation
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61
tars
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62
F t worms
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63
nother rld
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64
igh and low
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ndaaT>:.
:De Pedalternorotani:'iomovens eentroeu1a.tu.s a-rHculosllS ontstonCI,(generatlos,P.Onta.nuit onbevredigdheid over bet in denatuur ontbre'kenvan wielvormLgeJevenae s e n e
l n met net vermos-en zicllrollena_OO 't te bewegen.}{et nier'bjj a.fgebeelae d . e r t j ~ Ltvolksmond g e n a a . m ~ W e n t e 1 t e e f j e o f , , r o l p e n s ~ trc1cht dus in etln diepgevoeloe
hoefte teVQOrZten.Bio1ogisc1le 'DUzonaerneden :zyn nog sena.a.rs :i.sbetzoogoier,eell repUel,of een Lnsel<t?Het neeft n1angger ekt uitvenoor.nd.e _ g e l ~ d l ~ e n ~ ~ v o r m a licnaam en d r i ~ paren poten,waar
de uttemden geJukems v rton n met aemenseJy Ke voet. Iqn t midvan de oLKke,ronde kop,die v o o r z ~ n ts vaneen ste-rk g ~
-sen p a p a ~ a a t e n s n a v e l , b e v t n o e n :dell ae bolvormogen,die,op atelen ?eplaa:tst ,ter weerszyden vtoe een
betrekkel9kvlal<l<e baantot ~ n b e s c n i k ·"king Me{t,aru'kt het
de 1<oP ver uitsLeKen.In e s t r e l < t e poslt ienet di er- e h ~ t N : a g en bedaclltzaa.m ,d
mLadel van zijn z e s _ p o t e n ~ v o o r t b e w ezijn koQ op de grondrolt ztch o1Cksemsnelo p , w a ~ r b U net zlcb afduwt
met zun poten o o r zov l aeze
over et>n wlllel<eurl.g substr {hetka.n eventueel steile r a . p
opldi.mmen ofafdalen ,dOstr-u.tkgewas neendrtng
of ove r rots blokkl<lautereJl . Zdra. n t echa.n nog desrond raken,In O . P - ~
gerolde toestand vertoont netde gedaante van een dlscus-senyf,waarvan decentpaie as gevor>mo woratdoor de ogen-op-stelen.Door zien beurle-:.
eenl nwegm
afllings t zetten met een van zijn dpie paren
~ o t e n , han net n grote snel'heio bereLl<en. .Oo k trekt net naar believen tijdens net rollen b Y . b ~ hetafdalen van een nelling,of om zun vaart uit te lopef )de P9:.ten in en gaat ,freewlleeleriae•1verder.Wanneerllet er a . n l e i . ~ding toe 'heeft 1<an llet op tweewlizen weer in wanael-posi tLe
o v e r ~ a a n : ten eerate abrupt ,door zijn lichaam plotseJingtestre"kken maar dan lfgtllt?t op'zijn rusr,met zijn poten in ae luent enten tweede doorgeJeideJUke snelneidsvermtnaerin$ (remming met aepoten) en langzame acnterwaartse o n t r o l l ~ n g l7l stustaande toestand.
65.Curl-up
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Hous of stairs
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l tivity
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ree spheres I
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rawing hands
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70
alcony
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71
oric co mns
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72
rint gallery
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7 _
ragon
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elvedere
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75Ascending and descending
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76
aterfall
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