Sun and Moon
1948
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
woodcut in black
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Seymour and Iris Schwartz Collection
Accession Number
1981.80.30
Art Historical Context
In the enchanting woodcut *Sun and Moon* (1948), Dutch artist M.C. Escherfully explores themes of duality and symmetry, hallmarks of his innovative style that blends mathematics, illusion, and the natural world. Created as a striking black woodcut—a labor-intensive relief printing technique where intricate designs are carved into wood blocks—Escher divides the composition into mirrored halves: one bathed in the radiant light of the sun, the other shrouded in the moon's silvery glow. This print exemplifies his post-World War II fascination with paradoxical perspectives and impossible architectu...
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...