Cave Dwellings, Sicily
1933
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
woodcut
Dimensions
image: 24.1 x 31.8 cm (9 1/2 x 12 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Seymour and Iris Schwartz Collection
Accession Number
1983.110.8
Art Historical Context
In 1933, Dutch artist M.C. Escher the stark, ancient beauty of Sicily's cave dwellings in this striking woodcut, *Cave Dwellings,*. Measuring 24.1 x 31.8 cm, the print showcases Escher's early mastery during his extensive travels through Italy in the 1920s and 1930s. Before his fame for mind-bending tessellations and impossible architectures, Escher focused on precise, topographical depictions of Mediterranean landscapes, blending realism with intricate detail. The woodcut medium—carved from a wooden block, inked, and pressed onto paper—allowed Escher to achieve dramatic contrasts of light an...
About the Artist
M.C. Escher
Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) was a Dutch graphic artist renowned for his mathematically-inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints featuring impossible constructions, tessellations, and explorations of infinity. Though he considered himself lacking in mathematical ability, Escher's work demonstrates profound intuitive understanding of geometry, symmetry, and spatial paradox. A transform...