Day and Night: Escher’s Turning Point
Tegan Sorensen V00885279
AHVS 260
Due: November 21st, 2017
M. C. Escher is an iconic artist, but more iconic than the artist is his art. From detailed landscapes to mind-boggling impossibilities, he worked in woodcuts, wood engravings, and lithographs. These allowed for extreme contrasts and impeccable detail. While many of his works could be named as iconic, Day and Night marked a significant change in Escher’s artistic journey. From its context and contrast to its style and meaning, it is an icon in its own right.
Maurits Cornelius Escher was born in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland in the Netherlands. He was not particularly bright in school, except when it came to art. Despite having to repeat …show more content…
It is a black, white, and grey woodcut, and measures 67.7cm by 39.1cm. It is very precise, with many lines and obvious attention to detail. It depicts two flocks of birds flying past or through each other above a nearly symmetrical landscape. The flock flying to the left is black, above a mostly white town, and the flock flying to the right is white, above a mostly black town. The towns are nearly identical in structure, with a windmill, a church, a winding river, a concentration of buildings, trees, and a boat on the river. There is no harsh line between the two towns, but rather fields that fade from light to dark. There are many horizontal lines, and we see many light grey lines across the right side of the piece. The birds at the top fit into one another like a puzzle, but the closer to the bottom or middle of the piece we look, the less they look like birds as they fade into the fields. The birds resemble doves on the white side, or ravens on the black …show more content…
It plays with perception, with contrast, and with transformation, all without needing context. Despite this, it is rich in context and is even more memorable with said context. It shows us the realization of his impossible worlds, and it has a universality about it that allows for endless interpretations. The duality of the piece makes us want to focus on one side or another, the foreground or the background, and Escher challenges us to see both at once. It is an impactful work, and marks a turning point in his career from the ordinary to the extraordinary and
Tegan Sorensen V00885279
AHVS 260
Due: November 21st, 2017
M. C. Escher is an iconic artist, but more iconic than the artist is his art. From detailed landscapes to mind-boggling impossibilities, he worked in woodcuts, wood engravings, and lithographs. These allowed for extreme contrasts and impeccable detail. While many of his works could be named as iconic, Day and Night marked a significant change in Escher’s artistic journey. From its context and contrast to its style and meaning, it is an icon in its own right.
Maurits Cornelius Escher was born in Leeuwarden, the capital of Friesland in the Netherlands. He was not particularly bright in school, except when it came to art. Despite having to repeat …show more content…
It is a black, white, and grey woodcut, and measures 67.7cm by 39.1cm. It is very precise, with many lines and obvious attention to detail. It depicts two flocks of birds flying past or through each other above a nearly symmetrical landscape. The flock flying to the left is black, above a mostly white town, and the flock flying to the right is white, above a mostly black town. The towns are nearly identical in structure, with a windmill, a church, a winding river, a concentration of buildings, trees, and a boat on the river. There is no harsh line between the two towns, but rather fields that fade from light to dark. There are many horizontal lines, and we see many light grey lines across the right side of the piece. The birds at the top fit into one another like a puzzle, but the closer to the bottom or middle of the piece we look, the less they look like birds as they fade into the fields. The birds resemble doves on the white side, or ravens on the black …show more content…
It plays with perception, with contrast, and with transformation, all without needing context. Despite this, it is rich in context and is even more memorable with said context. It shows us the realization of his impossible worlds, and it has a universality about it that allows for endless interpretations. The duality of the piece makes us want to focus on one side or another, the foreground or the background, and Escher challenges us to see both at once. It is an impactful work, and marks a turning point in his career from the ordinary to the extraordinary and