M.C. Escher (1898-1972) - Band van Möbius

M.C. Escher
The Möbius band
from Escher's top prints
Signed on the plate
Framed with a mat
Dimensions 58x32 cm
Condition: excellent
Small crack in the glass
Sent by registered mail

Escher has created a number of prints based on the concept of the Möbius band, discovered by the German mathematician and astronomer Ferdinand Möbius (1790-1868). Escher had already toyed with it cautiously in his woodcut Ruiter from 1946 and his wood engraving Zwanen from 1956. Band of Möbius I from 1961 is the first print in which he places the concept at the center, followed by Band of Möbius II in 1963. A Möbius strip is a spatial figure that has only one surface and one edge. There is no outside and there is no inside. It is a figure that fits very well with the themes Escher was engaged with. It seems to connect to Escher's impossible prints such as Hol en bol, Relativity, Belvédère and Waterval, but the Möbius strip is indeed possible. It only seems impossible. For Escher, however, it is not enough to depict the band as beautifully as possible. He challenges himself and the viewer by making the band semi-transparent and having it walked upon by nine ants that follow each other like in an endless treadmill.