Eye, 1946 —
You might not know M.C. Escher's name, but chances are you've seen his staircases seamlessly looping for eternity, hands impossibly drawing one another into being, or bearded face calming staring back at you from a reflective ball. Despite the relative fame of Escher's intriguing images, the reserved Dutch artist himself eschewed the limelight -- even turning down a plea from Mick Jagger to design a Rolling Stones cover.
Now the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art explores his work in its new exhibition, "The Amazing World of M. C. Escher."
Though whether the mysterious printmaker would also have welcomed the fanfare, is anybody's guess.
Reptiles, 1943 —
Impossible worlds come to life in Escher's drawings, as crocodiles evolve into seemingly three-dimensional creatures, before ambling back into flat prints before our very eyes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these fantastical pictures found popularity in the psychedelic art scene -- this particular image used for the debut album cover of British rock band "Mott the Hoople," in 1969.
Hand with a Reflecting Sphere, 1935 —
Who exactly was the man behind the awesome illustrations?Born in Holland is 1898, Maurits Cornelis Escher initially studied architecture, before one of his teachers suggested he take up graphic art instead.
Relativity, 1953 —
However, the inner architect could still be seen in Escher's painstakingly precise pictures of buildings -- even if they could never actually exist in real life.
Day and Night, 1938 —
"In 1922, during a visit to the Alhambra, a 14th century castle in Granada, Spain, Escher became intrigued by the repeat patterns that exemplify Islamic art, and how repeated designs created visual puzzles," explained the exhibition's curators.It was a skill which drew praise from an unlikely community -- mathematicians.
Cycle, 1938 —
"It is not often -- or perhaps ever -- that a mathematics conference can have left a significant imprint on the world of art, but this happened with the International Congress of Mathematicians, held in Amsterdam in September 1954," explained Patrick Elliott, who along with Micky Piller and Frans Peterse co-authored "The Amazing World of M.C. Escher" which accompanies the exhibition. "Noting the correspondence between Escher's work and mathematics, the Committee of the Congress staged an exhibition of Escher's work at Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum."
Hundreds of international delegates attended the week-long mathematics congress, helping to spark a new interest in Escher's work around the world.
Circle Limit III, 1959 —
Attending the congress were two British-born mathematicians, Roger Penrose and HSM Coxeter, who later helped Escher create some of his last prints. The geometric structure of Circle Limit III (pictured) in particular, owed a great deal to the workings of Coxeter.
Bond of Union, 1956 —
That's not to say Escher's carefully constructed work wasn't without its own romance.According to curators, this image features the artist and his wife and was partially inspired by a dream about H.G. Wells' 1897 novel, "The Invisible Man," in which the protagonist can only be seen after being wrapped in bandages.
Belvedere, 1958 —
"In this image, the six central pillars on the first floor shift from the front to the back, and vice versa," explained Peterse."This creates a visual confusion that is emphasized by the two figures climbing the ladder -- at the bottom of the ladder they are inside the building, and at the top they are outside."
Drawing Hands, 1948 —
Much like the riddle of the chicken and the egg, it's hard to know what came first in this picture -- the left hand or the right.Escher himself was left-handed -- not that it brings us any closer to deciphering this intriguing illustration.
Still Life with Sperical Mirror, 1934 —
Escher was fascinated by reflective surfaces, whether they be water, glass, polished spheres, an eye or a dew drop," explained Elliott."The sculpture on the left is an iron 'man-bird', the simurgh, probably of Persian origin, which was given to Escher by his father-in-law as a wedding present; in legend, the simurgh bestowed fertility."
Ascending and Descending, 1960 —
"The inhabitants of these living-quarters would appear to be monks, adherents of some unknown sect. Perhaps it is their ritual duty to climb those stairs for a few hours each day," explained Escher of this entrancing image."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."
Despite the success of his work -- Escher featured in "Time" and "Life" magazine in the 1950s -- the artist himself remained something of an enigma, preferring to craft these impossible worlds in peace and quiet.
He died in 1972 at the age of 73.
