Knots 1965

M.C. Escher made this print called ‘Knots’, using the medium of wood engraving. Escher was Dutch and made this work in a period when ideas about art were changing fast. Was art meant to be a window onto the world? Or an intellectual game? Escher played both roles at once. ‘Knots’ is based on complex mathematical ideas, but at the same time, the image is a visual trick, a playful allusion to infinity. Escher was not an activist, he wasn’t trying to change the world with his art. But he was playing with ideas about what is real and what is not, and this challenges our assumptions about the world. What do we mean when we say something is true? How do institutions like science, religion, or law shape our ideas about the truth? Historians look at an artist’s life, writings, and the social and political forces that shaped their time to find out more about them. In Escher's case, we can find ways to explore the fascinating intersection of art and mathematics in the 20th century.