Air, New Year's greeting-card 1954

1952

M.C. Escher

Associated Names
M.C. Escher

Artist, Dutch, 1898 - 1972

This image features repetitive forms of green and brown bird-like shapes that interlock seamlessly to create a tessellated pattern. The repeated bird shapes have stylized wings and beaks, resembling familiar depictions of birds in flight. The colors alternate between green and brown, suggesting the representation of two species or a play of shadow and light. The arrangement of shapes is orderly and symmetrical, resembling a flock of birds moving together in unison.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut in green and brown, printed from two blocks, on wove paper

  • Credit Line

    Cornelius Van S. Roosevelt Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 15.4 x 13.4 cm (6 1/16 x 5 1/4 in.)
    sheet: 17.5 x 15.5 cm (6 7/8 x 6 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1983.109.35

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Bool 1981, no. 383

Artwork history & notes

Bibliography

1981

  • Bool, F.H. et al. M.C. Escher: His Life and Complete Graphic Work. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1981; English-language edition, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1982.

Inscriptions

lower left in plate: MCE; across top in plate letterpress in gray: FELICITAS 1954; across bottom in plate letterpress in gray: EUGENE & WILLY STRENS

Wikidata ID

Q74045214

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