Trees and Animals
probably 1953
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
wood engraving//below engraving on same sheet is anotein ink from Escher to Martin Gardner
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Martin Gardner
Accession Number
1981.79.1
Art Historical Context
**Trees and Animals** a captivating wood engraving by the renowned Dutch artist M.C. Escher, created around 1953. Escher, celebrated for his mind-bending prints that fuse art with mathematics, masterfully employed wood engraving—a meticulous relief printing technique—to achieve extraordinary precision and intricate detail. medium allowed him to carve fine lines into wood blocks, producing rich contrasts and seamless patterns that define his signature. The artwork exemplifies Escher's fascination with tessellations and transformations, where organic forms like trees and animals interlock harmo...
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...