Ravello I 1923

M.C. Escher made Ravello I without a date using what looks like ink on paper. It's a dense little jungle, and he builds it all with lines—a real testament to the power of process. I mean, look at the layering! You can almost feel him working through it, line by line, hatching, cross-hatching, building up the shadows to make some of these plants pop, others recede. Notice how he uses the density of line to suggest depth and shadow, that’s where the feeling is. Escher is so cool, not just because of the mind-bending stuff but also because he's diving into the nitty-gritty of seeing. In a way, the graphic quality reminds me of some of the German Expressionists, like maybe Emil Nolde. You see the same commitment to line and emotion. Ultimately, it’s a reminder that art's an ongoing conversation across time, full of delightful ambiguities.