Horseman 1946

M.C. Escher created 'Horseman' as a lithograph, where the same image repeats to fill the plane, and my eyes struggle to decide whether to read it positively or negatively. Escher’s limited palette of browns and beiges gives it an almost sepia-toned, vintage feel, like a faded photograph. There is an almost compulsive quality to Escher's mark-making, especially as each form interlocks. I think of the area where the head of the white horse meets the body of the brown horse, it's as if the artist is playing with our perception, making us question what is figure and what is ground. The flat, graphic quality reminds me a little of early 20th-century woodcuts, like those by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, where form is simplified, and emotions are heightened. Of course, Escher is doing something entirely his own here, pushing the limits of what is possible. He is a magician of space, showing us that art can challenge our understanding of the world.