Gravitation (M. C. Escher)

Gravitation (also known as Gravity) is a mixed media work by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher which was completed in June, 1952. It was first printed as a black-and-white lithograph and then coloured by hand in watercolour.

It depicts a nonconvex regular polyhedron known as the small stellated dodecahedron. Each facet of the figure has a trapezoidal doorway. Out of these doorways protrude the heads and legs of twelve turtles without shells, who are using the object as a common shell. The turtles are in six coloured pairs (red, orange, yellow, magenta, green and indigo) with each turtle directly opposite its counterpart.

See also

• Printmaking

Sources

• Locher, J.L. (2000). The Magic of M. C. Escher. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. ISBN 0-8109-6720-0.