Famous Artists - Stage 4 Comp - Escher - Comprehension Pack.pdf

STAGE 4 Unit focus: Famous Artists Text focus: Biography Escher M.C. Escher was a famous Dutch artist who produced artwork based on his deep understanding of mathematics. Like most artists, he experimented with different materials and styles until he found a way of working that suited him. Escher was...

STAGE 4 Unit focus: Famous Artists Text focus: Biography Escher M.C. Escher was a famous Dutch artist who produced artwork based on his deep understanding of mathematics. Like most artists, he experimented with different materials and styles until he found a way of working that suited him. Escher was born in 1898. His full name was Maurits Cornelius Escher, but he used the name M.C. Escher for his artwork. As a child, Escher was often ill. He struggled at school and found most subjects difficult. The one area where he excelled was art. This made it an obvious choice to pursue at college. For a while, Escher tried to turn his hand to architecture, which used lots of his skills. Unfortunately, he fell ill again and failed lots of the course. Instead, he learned how to make woodcuts and focussed on more creative artistic styles. One thing that stuck with Escher was the repetitive patterns of designs around Europe. He found these particularly striking in the Alhambra in Spain. Lots of the designs there tessellated, which means they are repeated and interlocked with each other. You might have made tessellating art at some point, Escher definitely found it fascinating. Up until that point, most of Escher’s art had been detailed drawings of things that he saw in nature. Once he realised how much he loved tessellation, that inspired him in whole new directions. Tessellation is based on mathematics, and Escher began to use maths to help create more interesting and extraordinary pieces of art. Escher understood how to use mathematics in his art to trick your eyes. In his works called “Relativity” (1953) and “Waterfall” (1961), he plays with perspective to create buildings that could never exist. In “Waterfall”, a stream flows along a brick viaduct before falling down a waterfall. At the bottom, it continues its journey back to the beginning, which could never happen in real life. Even before his mathematical revolution, Escher was fascinated with tricks of the mind. He created a drawing in 1948 called “Drawing Hands”. In it, two hands are being all resources ©2023 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com drawn by each other in a mirrored image. The last piece of work that Escher produced was called “Snakes” in 1969. It was another tessellating piece of art. In it, three snakes are wrapped around each other and through a group of interlinked rings. A year later, Escher moved to a retirement home for artists. He had his own studio there but didn’t produce any more important pieces of art. He died in 1972, but his art left a legacy of patterns and tessellation that is still in use today. RETRIEVAL FOCUS 1. What nationality was Escher? 2. Where did Escher first see tessellating designs that inspired him? 3. When did he create “Waterfall”? 4. Where was he living when he died? 5. What is his full name? S V V V S VIPERS QUESTIONS Why was school hard for Escher? Find and copy a word that tells you that Escher was good at art at school. Which word in the text means “reflected”? What does the word “pursue” mean? How did travelling around Europe influence Escher? all resources ©2023 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com