Old Lava From Mount Etna Near Bronte, Sicily 1933

This is 'Old Lava From Mount Etna Near Bronte, Sicily', by M.C. Escher. Look at the way he’s rendered the volcanic rock, and that majestic, snow-capped volcano looming in the background. I can almost feel the sharp, brittle texture under my hands. I wonder what Escher was thinking as he created this scene? Did he feel a sense of awe at the natural world, or perhaps a touch of melancholy, witnessing the slow, geological timescale of change? What strikes me most is how he’s used line and tone to create depth and form. Each stroke seems so deliberate. When I look at it, I think about other artists like Durer, and the long, ongoing conversation between artists across time, each of us wrestling with the same challenges of representation and expression, but somehow also adding something new. Escher has definitely done that. He leaves us something enigmatic, open for exploration, and intensely felt.