Today, we gather to wish a Happy 123rd Birthday to Maurits Cornelis Escher, born OTD in 1898, in Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands. M.C. Escher needs no introduction, neither does his art, so we reminisce today about this great artist’s life and his works with some of his works posted on twitter.
You would have thought that Escher had a background in science and mathematics, but according to en.wikipedia.org/…, Escher had no formal education in mathematics, yet he interacted with the mathematicians George Pólya, Roger Penrose, Harold Coxeter and crystallographer Friedrich Haag, and conducted his own research into tessellation.
Another surprising bit of info — “Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for long somewhat neglected in the art world, even in his native Netherlands. He was 70 before a retrospective exhibition was held.”
His interest in the mathematics of tessellation were rooted in his travels in 1922 and 1936 through Italy and Spain, and by the Moorish architecture of the fourteenth-century Alhambra which were based on geometrical symmetries featuring interlocking repetitive patterns in the colored tiles or sculpted into the walls and ceilings.
Escher was left-handed.
Escher died on 27 March 1972.
Let’s take a look at some of his popular works. Follow the link in the titles of some of the images below to learn more about the artwork.
Hand with Reflecting Sphere (and a self portrait)
Still Life with Spherical Mirror (with another self portrait)
Still life with Mirror
Reptiles
Drawing Hands
Mobius Strip II
Bond of Union
Waterfall
Ascending and Descending
Convex and Concave
Relativity
Other World
Circle Limit (and fractals)
Smaller and Smaller (another fractal)
Day and Night
Sky and Water
Flatworms
Puddle
Three Worlds
Concentric Rinds
Stars
A few videos video on the art and mathematics of Escher’s works -
Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture by Roger Penrose and Jon Chapman -
The trailer of a documentary released earlier this year-
Escher on the Laws of Mathematics -
Selected Quotes
- We adore chaos because we love to produce order.
- I don't use drugs, my dreams are frightening enough.
- What I give form to in daylight is only one per cent of what I have seen in darkness.
- Originality is merely an illusion
- Hands, are the most honest part of the human body, they cannot lie as laughing eyes and the mouth can.
- Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it's in my basement... let me go upstairs and check.
- So let us then try to climb the mountain, not by stepping on what is below us, but to pull us up at what is above us, for my part at the stars; amen.
Epilogue
What are your memories of M. C. Escher through the years? Did his works adorn the walls of the dorm room in college? Do you still own and cherish prints of his works? Which of his works do you love and admire most? Have his creations and techniques inspired or influenced your own artwork?
References
- Official M. C. Escher website — mcescher.com/…
- Escher Museum at the Hague — www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/…
- Left-handers’ Day 2019 — www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/…
- Escher Timeline — www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/...