M.C Escher and Geometry

By Jasmine Hollerway, Sky Kalfus, and Stephan TK

A little background information…

• M.C. Esher was born in the Netherlands in 1898

• dropped out of the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts

• decided to become an artist• spent much of his life traveling

though Italy, which became the inspiration for much of his work

Parts, Shapes, and Relationships

• Tessellations– Started with basic shapes (triangle, square,

hexagon)– Altered them to take the form of animals– Each change had to be compensated

For Example…

• Metamorphosis Images

– Start with two-dimensional tessellation– Shift to three dimensions and back– Number of visible planes increases and decreases

• Strange Loop images

• Strange Loop images– Appear to be elevated– Actually on the same plane– Physically impossible structures

Tools and Methods

• Used basic geometric shapes in his artwork

• Repetition• Symmetry

Size and Quantity• For a presentation the tessellations would

have had to be a manageable size but it really could have gone on infinitely in size.

• The metamorphosis images- long and thin, to be read from left to right.

Why this is important?

• Escher’s work shows how art can be enhanced by math, and vice versa

• Brings depth to mathematics• Helps us understand geometry

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