By Claudio Ruffo 5/7/2015 By Claudio Ruffo 5/7/2015

EARLY LIFE He was born in Leeuwarden, Holland in 1898, and when he was in school his family planned for him to follow his father’s career of architecture. However, poor grades and an aptitude for drawing and design eventually led him to a career in the graphic arts, specializing in woodcuts, mezzotints, and lithographs. His work went almost unnoticed until the 1950’s, but by 1956 he had given his first important exhibition, was written up in Time magazine, and acquired a world-wide reputation. Among his greatest admirers were mathematicians, who recognized in his work an extraordinary visualization of mathematical principles. He was born in Leeuwarden, Holland in 1898, and when he was in school his family planned for him to follow his father’s career of architecture. However, poor grades and an aptitude for drawing and design eventually led him to a career in the graphic arts, specializing in woodcuts, mezzotints, and lithographs. His work went almost unnoticed until the 1950’s, but by 1956 he had given his first important exhibition, was written up in Time magazine, and acquired a world-wide reputation. Among his greatest admirers were mathematicians, who recognized in his work an extraordinary visualization of mathematical principles.

CUBE WITH MAGIC RIBBONS Cube with Magic Ribbons is a lithograph print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher first printed in It depicts two interlocking bands wrapped around the frame of a cube. The cube framework by itself is perfectly possible but the interlocking of the "magical" bands within it is impossible. This print is significant for being the first Escher drawing to use a true impossible object.

TESSELATIONS Regular divisions of the plane, called tessellations, are arrangements of closed shapes that completely cover the plane without overlapping and without leaving gaps. Typically, the shapes making up a tessellation are polygons or similar regular shapes, such as the square tiles often used on floors. Escher, however, was fascinated by every kind of tessellation—regular and irregular—and took special delight in what he called “metamorphoses,” in which the shapes changed and interacted with each other, and sometimes even broke free of the plane itself.

SKY AND WATER Sky and Water I is a woodcut print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher first printed in June The basis of this print is a regular division of the plane consisting of birds and fish. Both prints have the horizontal series of these elements, fitting into each other like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Sky and Water I is a woodcut print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher first printed in June The basis of this print is a regular division of the plane consisting of birds and fish. Both prints have the horizontal series of these elements, fitting into each other like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

HOMAGE

REFLECTION While Eschers work might seem surrealistic, in my opinion it’s the opposite. Everything he depicts in his artworks are mathematically valid concepts like infinity and additional spatial dimensions. We understand the math and physics behind these concepts but our mind will never actually understand the concepts themselves, and escher’s work is the closest we can get to understanding them.