Escher, Maurits Cornelis (1898 - 1972)

Maurits Cornelis Escher (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmʌurɪt͡s kɔrˈneːlɪs ˈɛʃər]; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints, many of which were inspired by mathematics. Despite wide popular interest, for most of his life Escher was neglected in the art world, even in his native Netherlands. He was 70 before a retrospective exhibition was held. In the late twentieth century, he became more widely appreciated, and in the twenty-first century he has been celebrated in exhibitions around the world.

His work features mathematical objects and operations including impossible objects, explorations of infinity, reflection, symmetry, perspective, truncated and stellated polyhedra, hyperbolic geometry, and tessellations. Although Escher believed he had no mathematical ability, he interacted with the mathematicians George Pólya, Roger Penrose, and Donald Coxeter, and the crystallographer Friedrich Haag, and conducted his own research into tessellation.

Early in his career, he drew inspiration from nature, making studies of insects, landscapes, and plants such as lichens, all of which he used as details in his artworks. He traveled in Italy and Spain, sketching buildings, townscapes, architecture and the tilings of the Alhambra and the Mezquita of Cordoba, and became steadily more interested in their mathematical structure.

Escher's art became well known among scientists and mathematicians, and in popular culture, especially after it was featured by Martin Gardner in his April 1966 Mathematical Games column in Scientific American. Apart from being used in a variety of technical papers, his work has appeared on the covers of many books and albums. He was one of the major inspirations for Douglas Hofstadter's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1979 book Gödel, Escher, Bach.

Maurits Cornelis Escher (ka M. C. Escher; 17. juuni 1898 – 27. märts 1972) oli hollandi kunstnik.

Tuntud on tema graafikateosed, kus kujutatakse tegelikkuses võimatuid objekte. Ta loomingusse kuuluvad ka matemaatikast inspireeritud puulõiked, litograafiad ja metsotintod.

M. C. Escher, koko nimeltään Maurits Cornelis Escher (17. kesäkuuta 1898 Leeuwarden – 27. maaliskuuta 1972 Laren) oli hollantilainen kuvataiteilija ja graafikko, joka tunnetaan mahdottomia esineitä ja asioita esittävistä kuvistaan.

Escher oli hyvin tuottelias ja teki uransa aikana 448 printtiä ja yli 2 000 luonnosta ja tutkielmaa. Hänen teoksissaan taiteelliset elementit, kuten väri, muoto ja tasapaino, yhdistyvät tieteelliseen muodon, kuvion ja viivan tutkimukseen. Hänen kuvansa mahdottomista rakennuksista, kieppuvista geometrisistä kuvioista sekä äärettömyydestä ovat vedonneet sekä tavalliseen katsojaan että matematiikan periaatteiden tuntijoihin.

Maurits Cornelis Escher, född 17 juni 1898 i Leeuwarden, död 27 mars 1972 i Hilversum, var en holländsk konstnär och grafiker, som ägnade sig åt att utforska matematikens och filosofins mysterier med hjälp av konst. Det sades ofta om honom att han hade en "matematisk hjärna", men under skoltiden var han inte särskilt duktig i matematik.

Eschers konst illustrerar sådana koncept som sällsamma slingor, nivåskillnader och perspektiv. Omöjliga figurer och paradoxer tillhör också de främsta inspirationskällorna.

Asteroiden 4444 Escher är uppkallad efter honom.