Post Number 2 - 1961

     Hello all, and welcome back!  Today, we'll be covering a piece of art from 1961.  It's a little piece by a fairly unknown artist, you may not have heard of him, went by the name M.C. Escher.

It's not the 60s without some trippy optical illusions, right?

     This piece is titled "Waterfall" and was created by M.C. Escher, as I mentioned.  If you don't know who M.C. Escher is, leave now here's a piece you may recognize:

Relativity, 1953.  I like to call it "Crazy Stairs"

     Now, one important thing to note about this piece (for the sake of the blog) is that it wasn't made in any particularly noteworthy period of time in Escher's life.  So, for this segment, I'm just going to talk about Escher in general and some interesting notes about this image in particular.

     M.C. Escher was most famous for his illustrated illusions, usually architectural in nature, that played with concepts such as tessellations and infinity.  The architectural aspect of his art was most likely inspired by his carpentry work as a young child until he was 13 years of age.  Escher was born Maurits Cornelius Escher (20 points to whoever can figure out where he came up with his nickname) in the Netherlands.  He was a sickly boy with a recurring skin infection.  Escher performed poorly in school and failed several times, while excelling at drawing (big surprise).

     Escher's first printed work was entitled "Still Life and Street."

Still Life and Street, 1937.

     Escher's style was definitely beginning to emerge in this piece, although it airs more on the side of surrealism than his later illusions.

     One interesting thing to note about "Waterfall" is that the titular waterfall and the paths of the aqueducts in the image create a Penrose Triangle.  

Obviously it's not exactly the same, but the principal is there.

     Another interesting little tidbit about "Waterfall"is that the very large plants in the bottom left-hand corner are actually magnified views of moss and Lichen that Escher drew in 1942 as part of a study.

And you thought he was just being weird.  Hava a little faith, will ya?

My Opinion

     I love this piece, in fact, I love most of Escher's work.  Who doesn't?  Even if you're not the type to look deeper into a piece of artwork and discover it's hidden meaning, you have to admit that there's a sense of fun to the impossible realities he creates.  One thing I've always been a fan of is using realism to create the unreal.  The technical side of Escher's work (form, style, etc.) is very much based in realism, but these techniques are used to create something impossible, and that's something I really admire.  You've no doubt seen Escher's work everywhere already, so if you're not a fan yet, you probably never will be.  But, if you live under a rock and love surrealism, definitely check his work out.   It's really great.

     Well, that's all for this entry.  Join me again next time!