Waterfall (M. C. Escher)

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Waterfall

M. C. Escher, 1961

Waterfall is a lithograph print by the Dutch artist M.C. Escher which was first printed in October, 1961. It shows an apparent paradox where water from the base of a waterfall appears to run downhill before reaching the top of the waterfall.

While most two-dimensional artists use relative proportions to create an illusion of depth, Escher here and elsewhere uses conflicting proportions to create the visual paradox. Waterfall has the structure of a Penrose triangle, an impossible object designed independently by Roger Penrose and Oscar Reutersvärd.

The image depicts a village or part of a small city with an elevated aqueduct and waterwheel as the main focus. The aqueduct begins at the waterwheel and flows behind it. The walls of the aqueduct step downward, suggesting that it slopes downhill. The aqueduct turns sharply three times, first to the left, then straight forward and finally to the left again. We are looking down at the scene diagonally, which means that from our perspective the aqueduct appears to be slanted upward. We are also looking across it diagonally from the lower right, which means from our perspective the two left-hand turns are directly in line with each other, while the waterwheel, the forward turn and the end of the aqueduct are all in line. The second left-hand turn is supported by pillars from the first, while the other two corners are supported by a tower of pillars that begins at the waterwheel. The water falls off the edge of the aqueduct and over the waterwheel in an infinite cycle. (In his notes on the picture, Escher points out that some water must be periodically added to this apparent perpetual motion machine to compensate for evaporation.) The two support towers continue above the aqueduct and are topped by two compound polyhedra. The one on the left is a compound of three cubes. The one on the right is a stellation of a rhombic dodecahedron.

Below the mill is a garden of bizarre, giant plants. This is actually a magnified view of a cluster of moss and lichen which Escher drew in ink as a study in 1942.

The background seems to be an endlessly climbing expanse of terraced farmland.

A stylised version of the channel in Waterfall with ambiguous 3-dimensional detail added

[edit] External links

Animated 3D version of Waterfall that includes views from a variety of perspectives.
Escher polyhedra George Hart discusses Escher's use of polyhedra in "Waterfall" and other prints.