Two Birds

M.C. Escher, Regular Division of the Plane (Birds) no. 18, India ink, pencil and watercolor, February 1938

About Two Birds

M.C. Escher created his iconic interlocking motif Two Birds in 1938, exploring how repeating, interlocking geometric shapes can fit together without any gaps. His fascination with interlocking figures began in 1922 when he visited the Alhambra, a 14th-century Moorish palace in Granada, Spain. He spent days sketching the complex, colorful tile mosaics that covered the walls and floors.

 Though the Moors avoided depicting living creatures due to religious tradition, Escher adapted their mathematical tile designs to feature recognizable animals like birds, fish, and reptiles.

Escher had no formal training in advanced mathematics, but he intuitively grasped geometric symmetry. By 1938, works like Two Birds and related prints such as Day and Night, marked his deep dive into tessellations – where a single bird shape serves as both the primary figure and the negative space outlining its counterpart. 

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‘mighty is geometry; joined with art, resistless.’

-Euripides

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Source Credits: Artchive, Wiki Art, M.C Escher, The Graphic Work, Royal Publishing House