Reinterpreting Escher: A Cultural-Historical Analysis of the Artist's Work

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to investigate the use of mathematics in the work of Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972). From a cultural-historical approach, a periodization is proposed; it consists of four phases, each of which reveals the different conceptions that the artist assumed in the application of mathematics for the elaboration of his engravings, woodcuts and drawings: in the form of a utility instrument; in as much principle ordaining / syntactic; as a germ of the artistic form; and as the main means of representation. This classification is a contribution, as it offers a look at his creative life through a sense approximation. It incorporates a section with an examination about the meaning of the images and artistic objects from the Transcurssive Logic (LT). Finally, we presented some emerging discussions and final reflections.