Maurits Cornelis Escher is a Dutch graphic designer, who is famous for his ‘impossible situations’. His designs just can’t exist, like in this picture: when you look up close, you’ll only see an ordinary staircase. But whenif you zoom out… those stairs are all over the place! Something you might see if you fell down them, or up them, and bumped your head!
Little Escher is born in Leeuwarden, in 1898. In school he only has one subject he likes: drawing. Later he’ll learn graphic techniques such as etching and woodcarving. On a trip to Spain he encounters some beautiful geometric shapes. Well, he can do that, too! He finds his thrills in drawing flood fills, which are detailed patterns full of salamanders, fish, butterflies and birds. Everyone assumed this Escher fellow must be some sort of mathematical genius, but he’d be the first to admit that he didn’t know… ehm… math.
In his work Escher also plays around with the relationship between flat surfaces and the 3-dimensional images they can contain. These ‘jokes’ are the reason he isn’t considered a proper artist by so called experts. But his drawings still sell like hot cakes.