cDevelopment of form and contrast
15. LIBERATION, lithograph, 1955, 43.5x20 cm On the uniformly grey surface of a strip of paper that is being unrolled, a simultaneous development in form and contrast is taking place. Triangles, at first scarcely visible, change into more complicated figures, whilst the colour contrast between them increases. In the middle they are transformed into white and black birds, and from there fly off into the world as independent creatures. And so the strip of paper on which they were drawn...
Vii Polyhedrons
57. DOUBLE PLANETOID, wood-engraving, printed from 4 blocks, 1949, diameter 37.5 cm Two regular tetrahedrons, piercing each other, float through space as a planetoid. The light-coloured one is inhabited by human beings who have completely transformed their region into a complex of houses, bridges and roads. The darker tetrahedron has remained in its natural state, with rocks, on which plants and prehistoric animals live. The two bodies fit together to make a whole but they have no knowledge of...
Mcescher
Introduced and explained by the artist All rights reserved. No part of this book in excess of 500 words, and no illustration, may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publishers. SBN 345-24678-0-595 Printed by TijI B.V., Zwolle, Holland TRANSLATED FROM THE DUTCH BY JOHN E. BRIGHAM Koninklijke uitgeverij Erven J. J. TijI B.V., Zwolle, Holland, 1960 American edition Meredith Press. New York Library of Congress Catalogue card no. 61-11940 New, Revised and Expanded...
Vi Inversion
It was stated in connection with print no. 29 that a combination of three diamond-shapes can make a cube. Yet it still remains an open question as to whether we are looking at this cube from within or without. The mental reversal, this inward or outward turning, this inversion of a shape, is the game that is played in the two following prints. 55. CUBE WITH MAGIC RIBBONS, l ithograph, 1957, 31x31 cm Two endless circular bands, fused together in four places, are curved around the diagonals of a...
I Early Prints
The five prints in this group, selected from a large number which were made before 1937, display no unity as far as their subject matter is concerned. They are all representations of observed reality. Even No. 7,, Dream , although pure fantasy, consists of elements which, taken separately, are realistically conceived. 1. TOWER OF BABEL, woodcut, 1928, 62x38.5 cm On the assumption that the period of language confusion coincided with the emergence of different races, some of the building workers...
f Irregular filling of plane surfaces
The next two prints consist of figures that do not in any way repeat themselves in similar form. So they do not really belong to group II nevertheless they were added to it because they do in fact have their surfaces filled up, with no spaces left empty. What is more, they could never have been produced without years of training in regular surface-filling. The recognizability of their components as natural objects plays a more important role. The only reason for their existence is one's...
V MIRROR IMAGES a Reflections in water
47. RIPPLED SURFACE, l ino-cut printed from 2 blocks, 1950. 26x32 cm Two raindrops fall into a pond and. with the concentric, expanding ripples that they cause, disturb the still reflexion of a tree with the moon behind i t. The rings shown i n perspective afford the only means whereby the receding surface of the water is indicated. 48. THREE WORLDS, lithograph, 1955, 36x25 cm This picture of a woodland pond is made up of three elements the autumn leaves which show the receding surface of the...
bThe function of figures as a background
Our eyes are accustomed to fixing upon a specific object. The moment this happens everything round about becomes reduced to background. 11. DAY AND NIGHT, woodcut printed from two blocks. 1938, 39x68 cm Grey rectangular fields develop upwards into silhouettes of white and black birds the black ones are flying towards the left and the. white ones towards the right, in two opposing formations. To the left of the picture the white birds flow together and merge to form a daylight sky and landscape....
e Story pictures
The chief characteristics of the six following prints is the transition from flat to spatial and vice versa. We can think in terms of an interplay between the stiff, crystallised two-dimensional figures of a regular pattern and the individual freedom of three-dimensional creatures capable of moving about in space without hindrance. On the one hand, the members of planes of collectivity come to life in space on the other, the free individuals sink back and lose themselves in the community. A row...