Escher Watercolors

M.C. Escher created a series of 137 numbered symmetry drawings (with some lettered variants) during his lifetime.  His ideas would evolve as simple sketches into drawings that he often watercolored. This collection of watercolors served as inspiration for future woodcuts and lithographs.  For example, Watercolor 21 is the little man in the lithograph Cycle.    See if you can find the beginnings of  Day and Night, Encounter, Sun and Moon, Magic Mirror, and Circle Limit IV. Taken as a whole, this amazing burst of color is brilliant example of artistic expression from a man who insisted much of the world could be seen in black and white. 

 

  The images are maintained as thumbnails for informational purposes.  Most watercolors are in museum collections but a small number are in private hands.  I am interested in acquiring one should you have it!  More information and full page images of the Watercolors can be found in the book “Visions of Symmetry” by Doris Schattshneider.