If anyone wants to read my analysis of Escher's "Waterfall", it's in the spoiler.
M.C. Escher’s Waterfall – A Review of the Impossible
The title of the work in question is Waterfall, a lithograph made by Dutch artist M.C. Escher in October of 1961. Waterfall measures 15x12 inches. This print is highly abstract, despite looking, initially, as though it were a representational piece. Waterfall contains several buildings, most notably an aqueduct that feeds itself in an impossible loop. Under the aqueduct is a watermill, overlooking a garden of bizarre plants that seem as if they belong in the ocean, instead of an aboveground landscape, as depicted. Below the watermill, next to the garden, is a small building with a deeply recessed arching doorway, with a walled walkway leading from it to the bottom of the page. In the walkway is a person, staring up at the aqueduct loop. In the bottom left corner of the work, there is another building, which is seemingly haphazard in construction. A large, wide staircase leads off-page, although the building cuts into the staircase, narrowing it at the bottom of the page. Another staircase leads between rooftop levels of this building, where a woman is hanging laundry. On the left side of the print, the watermill stands, tall and narrow compared to the other buildings. The watermill has two impossibly small windows near the roof, one in the form of a crescent, and the other is a small square with a sill. The front of the building contains a narrow, slightly recessed door and a shuttered window. The roof appears to be made of terra cotta tiles, which are extremely common in the Netherlands. The brick-lined aqueduct, which dominates the middle of the image, sharply winds its way upward from the watermill. The second portion of the aqueduct passes over the waterwheel of the mill, and then sharply turns upward, toward the top right corner of the image. The final portion of the aqueduct turns sharply toward the top left corner of the page, and then abruptly terminates after turning toward the bottom left corner of the image. Water, then, flows up the aqueduct in an impossible manner, then falls over the waterwheel, perpetually turning it before it starts its impossible journey upward again, forming an infinite loop. All portions of the aqueduct are supported by pillars from the lower levels of the aqueduct, even though those layers of aqueduct should actually be next to one another, given the shape. Atop the uppermost portion of the aqueduct sit two elevated platforms, each containing very complex geometric shapes. The left geometric shape is actually a compound of three cubes rotated so that their points are all equal distances from one another in all directions. The right shape is called a rhombic dodecahedron, which applies the same premise of the three cubes, but using rhombi instead of cubes. This second shape was popularized in geometry largely thanks to the work of Escher, and is thus called “Escher’s Solid.” The background of Waterfall is filled with terraces, upon which there are numerous plants.
Waterfall uses line masterfully, and in seemingly endless proportion. Between bricks, grates, plants, the Escher Solids, the waterwheel, the corners and edges of the buildings, and the terraces, there are hundreds upon hundreds of clean lines, which gives the piece a satisfyingly clean geometric look. The stairs and roof of the watermill have a different approach to line, in that many of the lines are imperfect, giving them a rustic look. Shape is another highly important concept in Waterfall, especially concerning the aqueduct. When taken out of context, the aqueduct appears to be one long, unbroken line, although this is not the case. In reality, the basis of each portion of the aqueduct is called the “Penrose Triangle,” which is an impossible shape where each leg of a triangle is twisted at each angle. The first two portions of the aqueduct and the leftmost, lowest pillars form the first triangle, the second and third portions combine with the second set of pillars to form the second triangle, and the third and fourth portions combine with the upper left pillars to form the third and final Penrose Triangle. As noted above, compound solids contain variations on everyday shapes, one of which is the cube, and the other a rhombus, stellated and compounded together until they are spherical. Furthermore, all of the buildings aside from the watermill are highly rectangular, and the watermill, being the most important building, has a triangular roof. There are a number of forms in the work, most notably the aqueduct, the watermill and waterwheel, the outlying buildings, the plants of the garden, the terraces in the background, and the compound solids at the top of the print. Forms in the work also include the plants on the terraces, as well as the pillars holding up said terraces, the man on the walkway, the woman and her laundry, and the slightly domed roof of one of the outlying buildings. Almost all of the forms are sharply geometric, excluding only the living things, the plants and the people, as well as the terraces, which appear to be covered in grass and various shrubbery. Space is finely crafted throughout the piece, in the recesses of the doorways, between the branches of the aqueduct, and in creating distance from the foreground to the background. The picture plane of this work is extremely deep because of the space created by the perspective of the piece. The use of color is highly limited in this work, as it is monochromatic, but this belies the complexity of value found in Waterfall. The deep shadows among the roof and wheel of the watermill, the Compound solids, in the garden, and in the doorways of the work create deep space and imply color. The implied color is especially prominent on the dark brick of the aqueduct and the bright, almost cheery plants in the garden. Highlighting the piece in a vast array of places is texture. Texture is found most obviously among the aforementioned bricks, and the roof of the watermill, which give them a rough visual quality. Texture is used in a more discrete manner among the plants of the piece. The grass on the steppes gives them depth and perspective, as well as implied line to give them direction. Finally, the plants in the garden, especially the tubular anemones, have a jagged, bumpy edge that make them feel alive and three-dimensional. All in all, Escher uses all of the Elements of Art to create a sense of serenity and vibrancy in the face of the impossible waterfall.
Waterfall is highly geometric in nature, beyond the Solids at the top of the piece. The composition is chock full of squares, rectangles, and the foresaid hidden Penrose Triangles. The sharp angular edges of the buildings and aqueduct combine with hard arches above the doorways and the perfect circle of the waterwheel to contrast highly with the more organic curves and ellipses of the plants in the garden and the terraces. The design of the piece is immaculate, blending all of the elements of art into a sublime, impossible dreamscape. The balance of the piece is asymmetrical in nature, but made plausible because of the hidden shapes within the piece. Unity is found among the shapes and the monochrome scheme, as well as the repetition of shapes, particularly the invisible triangle and the visible rectangle. The emphasis, of course, is the aqueduct, which uses shape, movement, and a skewed proportion to draw the eye up and down its course, coming to an end and a beginning at the deeply shaded waterwheel. Despite being in the foreground, the garden is deemphasized by the use of heavy shading, making that portion of the work much darker than the buildings in the center of the work. Pattern is found in one extremely obvious place and one place that is much more clandestine. The brickwork is an obvious choice for pattern, but also visible are the tines of the waterwheel and the steps amongst the various staircases. Slightly more hidden is the squares on the gate of the garden and the rectangular tiles of the watermill’s roof. However, in the negative space between the branches of the aqueduct are triangles, between the pillars and the corner of the aqueduct. These are placed purposely, to unconsciously signal the eye to move back and forth across the page, and help the viewer follow and believe the flow of the water, despite being mechanically impossible without a serious trick of the eye. Repetition is found throughout the piece to enhance its balance and unity. The brick pattern lends stability and credence to the unviable engineering feat on the page. The terraces repeat upward to the top of the page toward inevitability, but the repetition of triangles and rectangles keep the eye of the viewer from wandering off the page. That said, the organic nature of the plant life and the terraces lend variety to the piece, to prevent it from looking mechanical, and to bring the impossible to life. The proportion of the waterfall is purposefully skewed, almost as much as the geometry is. As the water travels upward along its nonsensical path, the aqueduct becomes thinner, possibly representing the idea that the viewer is understanding the impossibility of the situation. The proportion on the windows of the watermill are also extremely small, possibly to give the impression that there is something secret in the mill. All of these parts combine to form a lifelike picture, lending itself to a natural, believable rhythm. The rhythm of the piece, particularly that of the repeating triangles, prevents the eye from darting across the page, or travelling too far upward or downward at a glance.
Waterfall is a largely exploratory piece, especially on the concepts of mathematics. The compound solids at the top of the pieces explore stellation, or the process of extending parts of a shape to make a new shape. Those shapes also explore compounding, or twisting a shape upon itself until all the points are equally distant, creating a new shape. Waterfall also toys with the idea of natural vs. manmade, evident The greatest exploration in the piece, however, is the concept of infinity. The terraces grow upward off the page forever, the stairs and walkway at the bottom of the page retreat into nothingness, and the water goes through the aqueduct as though it were the ouroboros, eternally moving forward to swallow its own tail, never stopping. Also part of the concept of infinity is the concept of infinite energy. The water never stops, meaning that the mill is always powered, and that work for the miller is never done. Finally, the last exploration of the concept of infinity is life. The people in the work continue their daily life, hanging laundry to dry and relaxing, despite the somewhat alien and bizarre landscape and architecture. Waterfall was meant to create critical thought, as well as confusion and eventual epiphany on the nature of the world. A viewer, upon seeing Waterfall, is meant to realize that something is amiss, think about the issue presented in the piece, and realize what the problem is, possibly teaching themselves a bit of engineering or architecture in the process. The title of Waterfall is a nice one-word summation of the piece, but the simplicity of the title belies a hugely complex work. The initial shock and confusion conveyed by the piece is eventually supplanted by a serenity conferred by the stillness of the landscape and the general calmness of the piece. Eventually, the piece coaxes the viewer into delving into the mathematical structure of the waterfall, and teaches the viewer to look critically at the supposedly normal things of everyday life. Hidden meaning is abound in this piece, specifically the water, the never-ending source of life and motion. The deeply hidden triangles and the waterfall itself represent both infinity and the impossible, and making impossible things possible to comprehend. The people in the piece, although their role is nominal, represent the ability to adapt that is highly prevalent among humans, and that no matter how fast or bizarrely the human landscape changes, humanity will always be ready for it. Finally, the garden and the terraces are a subtle reminder that even man-made things are natural, no matter how artificial they may seem. After all, man is a part of nature, as are all the raw resources used in every item in daily life.
As an intellectual, this lithograph is fascinating. The implied triangles drawing the eye of the viewer around the page is masterfully executed, and the use of movement and hidden shapes make this work all the more intriguing. The serenity and credence of the landscape combined with the impossible, implausible waterfall make for a wonderfully stark contrast of idealism and modernization. This is a piece of work that would be proudly displayed in my home. The subtle use of geometry and mathematics to create the impossible is another contrast that plays against the psyche of the intellectual, and the ability of Waterfall to make the viewer think would be highly prized.
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