Maurits C. Escher was born in Leeuwarden, Holland.

After marrying Jetta Umiker, he

settled in Italy making drawings, later developed into prints. Escher often added dimensional
effects to the architecture and used light effects, in monochrome colors. After Italy, Eschers art
became based on theoretical situations. Later he developed the regular division of the plane,
his creation of multiple symmetric images. This inspired him for his work of metamorphosis
prints, one object turning into something completely different. He explored architectural mazes
and impossible spaces. He spent his life in Switzerland later and WWII, creating many of his
drawings. His work amazes all with his use of architecture, perspective, and impossibility. M.C.
Escher shows a fascinating world of symmetry and proportion.
Out of his vast work, my favorites would be Drawing Hands (1948), Day and Night
(1938), and Relativity (1953). Drawing Hands is one of my
favorites because this is the work of his I associate M.C.
Escher with. This picture was advertised at the Metropolitan
and was the first picture that introduced visual paradoxes to
me. M.C. Escher created a 3-dimensional object (hands)
coming out of flat paper, drawing themselves. His use of
shading and light made the hands look 3-D but the wrists only
2-D. It puzzled me how realistic and possible the drawing looked despite it being mathematically
and physically impossible. I also enjoyed how M.C. Escher used symmetry having both hands
drawing each other. I also liked how M.C. Escher drew the hands asymmetrical like the human
body, it is not perfectly symmetric.
Day and Night is another one of my favorites because the image is so atypically

symmetrical. The picture is split into two parts, the left representing day with whites while the
right representing night with darker colors. However, the most intriguing use of symmetry in this
picture is the birds. This is an example of M.C.
Eschers division of the plane and it just amazes
me how the shapes of the birds are formed by the
spaces left in between the birds, the spaces are the
shapes of the birds. I love how the fields become
birds, how the shape slowly distorts and
metamorphoses into a different object. This usage of proportion is clever as the bird can morph
into a field without changing size because the bird is closer to the viewing point, so its larger in
proportion than the field, but due to the fields natural large size, it looks like they are the same
size. Also, Escher shows us distance by proportioning the town, boats, and buildings to be small.
Another one of M.C. Eschers work which I admire is Relativity, one of his most popular
pieces. The reason why this piece is so profound is the fact that it is another paradox, it is
physically impossible but looking at the picture makes the situation seem possible. Escher uses
proportions to create this paradox of people walking on the stairs upside down instead of
ultimately death. Escher uses symmetry in this example with the stairs, if it is physically possible
one way; the other method is possible as well. However, in reality it is untrue, another example
being left handed and right handed molecules. Only left-handed molecules exist for living
organisms. Escher focuses on the stairs and the building overall; the proportion shows there is
enough room for the two possibilities. Also, his usage of proportion is not distorted and further
proves the possibility of this situation occurring naturally.
Attributes of Escher that appeal to me include his beautiful usage of symmetry. He uses

symmetry in his art which is so rarely found in drawings and his symmetry takes so much
precision e.g. like his pieces with division of the plane. Another attribute I admire is his genuine
artistic talent. His drawings look so realistic they fool me that they are only two dimensional
pieces. Last, I enjoy his usage of shadows and depth. He impressively uses only two colors for
most of his pieces, black and white. Therefore, he successfully had a strong talent of usage of
light to be able to create his visual paradoxes.
M.C. Escher is an amazing artist however, some attributes bother and disturb me. As
much as I enjoy his paradoxes, it bothers me how it is impossible and defies reality. For me, I
like believing in possibility so I enjoy seeing it in his art, but realizing that the situation can
never occur in reality unsettles me, e.g. in Relativity people can walk upside down which is
fascinating how real it looks like it can be but can never happen. Secondly, his genius for
mathematics but having no education baffles me. How can Escher, whose art has so much
mathematical genius, with such a strong intelligence of geometry, have no formal education? For
me, I study as diligently and hard as I can, but I know even if I studied geometry for the rest of
my life, I would never be able to create the mathematical ideas present in Eschers art. I love the
creativity in Eschers art however at times his art seems to be chaotic. Each piece of work has so
many symbols and takes a while to analyze just one art, there is already the unsettling feeling of
paradox and added now is the unsettling feeling of too complex.
In conclusion, M.C. Escher is a great artist with artistic talent in using proportion and
symmetry.

Pre-Activity Task:
Definitions:
1) Proportion: the relation between elements and a whole/ Proportional: a relationship
corresponding in size or amount
2) Symmetry: the quality of something that has two sides or halves that are the same in size,
shape, and position/ Symmetric: having sides or halves that are the same
3) Asymmetry: lack of equality or equivalence between parts or aspects of something /
Asymmetric: having two sides or halves that are not the same; not symmetric