This collection presents seventy-six reproductions of Escher's woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints, spanning his career from the early 1920s through the mid-1950s. The provided text, written by the artist himself, categorizes his visual output into specific mathematical and logical challenges. Escher explains the mechanics of periodic tiling, the division of the plane into interlocking animal figures, and the construction of three-dimensional perspectives that defy physical gravity. He describes the technical requirements for creating "impossible" architectural loops and the transition from flat patterns into spatial volume through spiral and sphere geometry.
Architects, mathematicians, and printmakers study this volume to understand the intersection of Euclidean geometry and artistic representation. Readers use the book to analyze how repeating patterns occupy space without gaps and how visual paradoxes can be structured using fixed vanishing points. The technical commentary allows students to identify the specific compositional rules behind optical illusions. Anyone interested in the precise application of tessellation and topographical transformation walks away with a clear framework for how Escher translated abstract numerical concepts into concrete, monochromatic imagery.
Balanced in tone; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1954
- Language
- EN
