Impossible Figures

The Dutch artist M. C. Escher is known for his lithographs and woodcuts showing...well...things that look right, but really can't exist. They play games with perspective, and perplex even the most devoted rationalist. They just don't seem possible, yet there they are.

We find that many people can't "see" these, or need to stare at them quite a while before a slow, "Oh, yeaahhh....." emerges.


Tribar I

An impossible tribar floats lazily among the planets.


Impossible Quilt

Based on a picture in a child's book on impossible designs. 



Aquarium

An impossible window frames an aquarium, while an impossible fish swims by.


Impossible Block

At first, this block seems OK, but...uh-oh...look at the corners!


Last Updated December 1, 1997