Escher in his Other World

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

M. C. Escher is an artist of geometry. His work is perhaps better known than his name. It is based on impossible figures created by projections on geometric planes, like the Möbius strip, the Necker cube and the Penrose triangle, on which he adds a dreamlike dimension.

Like "Other World". We see it on the cover of the catalog for the sale of Swann Auction Galleries in New York on March 5. We are within an architectured cubic room opening to the outside by large arches. Birds with human heads are placed in contradictory planes. The ground made of lunar craters is clearly visible, except on the plane where you would expect it, and is unexpectedly projected on two interior walls of the cube. The night sky is decorated with stars and galaxies.

This Escher masterpiece is a woodcut, 32 x 26 mm, printed in 1947. It is estimated 25 K $.

Maurits Cornelius Escher seems to have been closer to mathematicians than to artists. He was born in 1898, however, the same year as Magritte. There is no chance in the history of art. Escher was born in Friesland and Magritte in Hainaut. On the scale of the universe, it is not so far ...

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

This lot has remained unsold. Over sixty years after the printing of this work, we can still say that Escher is ahead of our time!