Other World

M.C. Escher Other World wood engraving and woodcut in black, reddish brown and green, printed from three blocks 31,8 x 26,1 cm January 1947

In Other World, a lunar landscape appears through the portals of an open, cube-shaped room. In this print, Escher is playing tricks on our brain. Each side of the small room offers a view that is possible, but by linking the three different perspectives together, he has created an overall picture that is impossible. The dizzying feeling the construction gives, is reinforced by the presence of a simurgh, which you get to view from all angles. Escher was given a statuette of this fabulous Persian creature for his wedding in 1924, and he let it feature in his prints several times.