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Maurits Cornelis Escher was a Dutch graphic artist known for his mathematically inspired, impossible constructions and tessellations. Born in 1898, Escher was fascinated by the concept of infinity and used his skills as a printmaker to create works that explored this idea in intricate and imaginative ways. His most famous works include "Relativity," "Ascending and Descending," and "Waterfall," which feature impossible architectural structures and impossible perspectives.
Escher's works are widely recognized for their technical mastery, their creative use of perspective, and their captivating illusions. He remains one of the most famous and beloved artists of the 20th century and his works continue to inspire new generations of artists and mathematicians alike. Today, Escher's works can be found in major museums around the world and continue to be celebrated for their innovative and imaginative quality.
The students will create unique shapes and move them around the canvas to create their own tessellations which are stained with dry tempera. Your students will discover an imaginary figure in their shapes and bring their compositions to life. Be sure to click through the student masterpieces at the top of this page.
I love MTM because it provides our kids with otherwise unavailable or limited art exposure. It gives them a chance to create and be inspired by amazing artists from different times in history, as well as within different mediums. Being a coordinator for MTM allows me the privilege of providing inspiration and creativity to kids just starting out on their educational journey- they never cease to amaze me with what they are able to express!
Buy a track of 7 artists and teach all year long.
*Art supplies and teacher/volunteer training DVDs can be added to your order.
Staircases that lead nowhere. Waterfalls that flow uphill. Patterns that shift from birds to fish without a single gap. This is the strange, logical world of M.C. Escher, a Dutch graphic artist obsessed with infinity and optical illusion. M.C. Escher Art style turns mathematics into something you can look at — tessellations and impossible architecture built with such precision that pieces like “Relativity” trick the eye long after you know the trick is there.
Students start by designing a single interlocking shape — simple enough to repeat, strange enough to hide a figure inside it. With the design complete, students reproduce it on paper using powdered paint, colored pencils, and cotton, allowing a previously unseen bird or animal to emerge from the design. It’s a hands-on way to see how math and art overlap, and it’s exactly the kind of project Meet the Masters builds its Escher lesson around, alongside vocabulary like pattern, overlapping, and design.
FAQ
Tessellations and impossible architectural illusions, like his famous piece “Relativity.”
Powdered paint, colored pencils, and cotton, used to color interlocking tessellation shapes.
Pattern and tessellation, along with vocabulary like overlapping and design.
