M. C. Escher: The Graphic Work

The text, first published in the Netherlands in 1959, is unusual because it comes from the artist. Escher explains in plain language what interested him: the regular division of a flat surface into interlocking shapes, the illusion of depth on a flat page and the play between two and three dimensions. He was not trained as a mathematician, yet his work has fascinated mathematicians and scientists, and he describes the problems he set himself as puzzles to solve with pencil and print.

The plates are arranged by theme. Early works show landscapes and towns he drew in southern Italy. Then come the tessellations he developed after studying Moorish tile patterns in Spain, where lizards, birds and fish fit perfectly together, and the metamorphosis prints in which shapes gradually change into other shapes. Later sections show impossible constructions such as Waterfall, Belvedere and Ascending and Descending, along with images of infinity, reflections in spheres and the famous Drawing Hands. Short captions explain each print.

A compact, inspiring art book that rewards slow looking, as new details appear every time you return to a print. About 96 pages in the Taschen hardcover.