Gravity
1952
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
lithograph
Dimensions
sheet: 39.69 × 40.01 cm (15 5/8 × 15 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Cornelius Van S. Roosevelt Collection
Accession Number
1974.28.48
Art Historical Context
M.C. Escher's *Gravity* (1952), a masterful lithograph measuring about 15⅝ × 15¾ inches, captures the artist's signature fascination with impossible architectures and perceptual illusions. In this print, Escher depicts a stark, brightly lit room where four figures—two men and two women—navigate a surreal space. Each stands confidently on a different wall, as if gravity pulls them toward the surfaces they occupy, creating a dizzying interplay of perspectives that defies everyday experience. Escher, a Dutch graphic artist active in the mid-20th century, honed his lithographic technique to perfe...
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...