"Never Think before You Act"

1921

M.C. Escher

Associated Names
M.C. Escher

Artist, Dutch, 1898 - 1972

This print displays an array of long vertical and shorter diagonal lines converging and diverging across the composition, giving the impression of a sheer, undulating, vertical wall with a narrow path winding across it. In the center of the print, the dark silhouette of a person is standing on this path right next to a sheer drop on the right, holding or touching a rectangular object that seems to be casting light on to their surroundings. They stand in a circle of illumination that casts their shadow onto the wall to the left. The print is surrounded by a border of beige paper.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut on tracing paper

  • Credit Line

    Cornelius Van S. Roosevelt Collection

  • Dimensions

    image: 12 x 9 cm (4 3/4 x 3 9/16 in.)
    sheet: 15.5 x 11.4 cm (6 1/8 x 4 1/2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1983.109.52

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Bool 1981, no. 81

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 graphite below image: M.C.Escher (underlined)

Wikidata ID

Q74045299

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