M.C. Escher (1898-1972), after - "Day and Night, 1938"

- M.C. Escher (after), authorized offset print on smooth paper (approx. 170gsm - refers to paper thickness/density).

- Plate signed.

- Copyright The M.C. Escher Company - Baam, The Netherlands.

- Size: 55 x 86 cm.

- Condition: excellent. Never framed, never exposed.

- Maurits Cornelis Escher’s Day and Night (1938) is one of the most recognisable images in the history of 20th-century printmaking in which landscape, mathematics and poetic imagination converge. The structured Dutch polder gradually transforms into a dynamic flock of interlocking birds, shifting from luminous daylight to deep nocturnal black in a visual metamorphosis.

Created at a moment when the European avant-garde was redefining perception, this composition resonates with the spatial research of the Bauhaus and the optical investigations later associated with Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley, while its dreamlike logic places Escher in a conceptual dialogue with Surrealist masters such as René Magritte, Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst. At the same time, the absolute control of line and the devotion to engraving traditions recall the legacy of Albrecht Dürer and Giovanni Battista Piranesi, bridging Renaissance precision with modern visual thought.

The transformation of tessellated fields into opposing flocks of black and white birds anticipates the visual rhythm and seriality admired by collectors of works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, while its monochrome architectural balance makes it particularly appealing in interiors where pieces by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró or Alexander Calder define a refined modern environment. This duality between decorative impact and intellectual structure also connects Escher’s work to the geometric abstraction of Piet Mondrian and the conceptual systems explored by Sol LeWitt.

Day and Night occupies a central place in collections that include works by Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Fernand Léger, where the dialogue between figuration, abstraction and symbolic language defines the evolution of modern art. Its hypnotic symmetry and iconic black-and-white contrast have also made it a timeless reference for contemporary collectors drawn to the visual power of artists such as Banksy and Yayoi Kusama, whose works similarly unite immediacy, repetition and strong graphic identity.

More than a technical tour de force, Day and Night is a meditation on balance, infinity and the coexistence of opposites an image that continues to define Escher’s position among the most innovative and collected graphic artists of the modern era, and a cornerstone for any collection focused on optical art, Surrealism and design-driven masterpieces.