M.C. Escher Art

Out of the brain of a truly talented artist came spiraling staircases and intricate illustrations that baffled the mind and sparked the imagination. These are just a few words used to describe the work of world famous graphic artist M.C. Escher. 

Maurits Cornelis Escher (17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) is most famous for his impossible structures, such as Ascending and Descending, Relativity, and his Transformation Prints (Metamorphosis I, Metamorphosis II) which is how I became familiar with his work. 

The first illustration of Escher's I saw was Relativity   when I was a kid. At the time I was dumbfounded to how a person could make such intricate three-dimensional structures on paper. Here it is almost twenty years later and I still haven't figured out the secret. I posted a few pieces of his work below, take a look. 

 Two Faces

Moebius

  
Snakes

Stars  

Waterfall

 

  
Circle Limit III 

Neo-Expressionism Art

Jean Michele Basquiat  (December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an artist in many genres including graffiti, music (DJ, punk band, mc) and fashion. He is also the first African American international superstar. He dated celebrities like Madonna and Blondie but was most famous for his Neo-Expressionist paintings. He died at age 27 from a heroine overdose.

I didn’t learn about Basquiat until the mid 90’s when the girl I was dating (who was a painting major) told me about him. I was impressed he made it into the art history books and checked out some of his work. He had a unique style that used multi-layers of color mixed with obscure phrases. I liked it instantly and although my art was developed independently I saw similarities in our styles. I posted a few pieces of his work below and if you want to know more about him click on his name or go to www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/basquiat. 

                                            Palms Springs Jump 

                                                             Two Crabs

                                                         In Italian 

                                                                   ErNok 

                                                           Onion Gum 

                                           Portrait of Jean Kallin