In this section, you will learn about the Dutch artist M. C. Escher and his famous tessellated designs.

More Information: Biography Trends in Escher's Work Escher's Tessellations Introduction Maurits Cornelis Escher, master artist and creator of tessellations, was born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands in 1898. After an aborted attempt to become an architect, Escher studied graphic art at the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem. Over the years and throughout his travels, he created a number of fascinating landscapes, portraits, and geometric designs, but the work for which he is most famous, his tessellations, were his main preoccupation. Since his first visit to the Alhambra in Spain in 1922, Escher was intrigued by the Moorish mosaics. Escher animated his own versions of the abstract geometrical designs he had seen. Through his extraordinary creativity and an inate understanding of the mathematics involved, Escher created hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of tessellating shapes in the form of fish, birds, dogs, crabs, insects, horses, humans, and other beasts. In this section of Totally Tessellated, you will find a variety of information about M. C. Escher, but by no means all that is available. When there is a particular reference that will supplement your studies of Escher and tessellations, the reference will be noted. Here you will find a brief bibliography, and introduction to Escher's collective works, and a section on his tessellations, including an analysis of a selection of Escher's best, and instructions on how to create some of your own. Escher's Self-Portrait An Escher work of art Web Links World of Escher M. C. Escher An M. C. Escher Optical Illusion Page All M. C. Escher works (c) Cordon Art B.V.-Baarn-the Netherlands. Used with permission. top of the page