The Mathematics of Imagination
Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) had almost no formal mathematical training and nearly failed his high school exams in the subject. Yet his graphic art shows an intuitive grasp of complex mathematical principles. This museum, housed in a former royal palace, contains over 120 of his works showing the logic and geometry of space. Escher's fascination with filling a flat surface with interlocking figures—or tessellations—was ignited during a 1922 visit to the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. He studied the abstract geometric tilings of the Moorish landmark and spent his career developing these ideas.
Instead of abstract shapes, Escher used what he called "recognizable shapes"—figures of animals like birds, fish, and reptiles that transform into one another across the print. He independently worked out the geometric rules for these repeating patterns, using operations that mathematicians call translations, reflections, and rotations. His work explores concepts of infinity, duality, and paradox. One of his most famous pieces, the 7-meter-long woodcut Metamorphosis III, shows a seamless transformation of abstract shapes into insects, fish, birds, and a city skyline before returning to the abstract, creating an endless cycle.