Eschers Relativity

[February 14, 1965] How I Found Love in the Vorpal Gallery (A Valentine for M. C. Escher)

[The current "in" thing is Op Art, the manipulation of our visual sense in the two-dimensional plane.  Perhaps no artist is more representative of this movement than M. C. Escher, and no day is more appropriate for a love letter to said artist than Valentine's Day…]


by Victoria Lucas

A Fine Romance

It was simple. I walked into a room and there was this man.  Well, not exactly the man himself, but there are self portraits. It was still love at first sight.

M. C. Escher with curved glass
Maurits Cornelis Escher

I think I wrote about working on Battery Street in San Francisco, 633, as a matter of fact, for the capitalist taskmasters U.S. Leasing Corp.  (I'm kidding–I'm not that far left. But I don't like what they do to people who can't make payments on their rented cash registers.)  From that debt factory, just a 7-minute walk up (north on) Battery takes me to 1168 and a little gallery established in 1962.

The Vorpal Gallery

Named after the "vorpal" blade in Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky," Vorpal Gallery represents many artists, but I have eyes only for M. C. Escher.  Well, maybe I do glance at the other artists represented–occasionally, after I've had my fill of the master after work or at lunch break.  I pounce on any new work and gulp it in, forgetting about food.

Another Kind of Relativity

To introduce you to this man's work, here, for instance, is "Relativity," about which the artist wrote, "In this picture three gravitational forces operate perpendicularly to one another. Men are walking crisscross together on the floor and the stairs. Some of them, though belonging to different worlds, come very close together but can't be aware of each other's existence."


Relativity, by M. C,. Escher

Going Dutch

Born in the Netherlands, Escher became a graphic artist who made mainly lithographs, mezzotints, and woodcuts, but also carved three-dimensional objects.  (See below.)


Escher's Sphere with Reptiles, from 1949

Escher's work is mathematics made visible.  No formulas, just breathtaking elegance, beauty, simplicity.  He works with space-filling forms, like his spheres and tessellations.  He loved Italy for its landscapes and warmth, lived and worked there for many years.  However, although he had no politics to speak of, he felt forced to leave Italy when, after meeting and marrying a woman in Siena, and having a son, he couldn't stand the sight of his son wearing a school-mandated fascist uniform in the 1930s.  (They moved to be near his wife's family in Switzerland.)

Transforming the World

No subject is too humble or too fantastic for this man.  No matter how you orient this image of a puddle, it works to reflect and refract the world.


Escher's puddle, 1952

I want to continue to see the world through his eyes.  I'm not sure one lifetime is enough for that.

Find Your Own Puddle

In any case, whether you want to fall in love or not, I suggest you find a room or a book or a card with images by this Maurits Cornelis Escher who was fascinated by repeating patterns and impossible views.  I've found mine.






7 thoughts on “[February 14, 1965] How I Found Love in the Vorpal Gallery (A Valentine for M. C. Escher)”

  1. Truly amazing work.  A remarkable combination of mathematical precision, precise drawing, and great wit.  I love it.

  2. I was director of Vorpal Gallery in Laguna Beach, CA. I fell in love with M C Escher too.  Mobile Strip, The Little Witch, The Castle on silk. I treasure that time. I never tire of looking at his work.
    If you can, see the original wood block prints. Reproductions share only half his genius.

    1. It's great to hear from you! I visited the Laguna Beach gallery when I could. The sphere you see in this article is one I bought from the Escher Museum in The Hague a few years ago . There are 2 museums that bear his name in the Netherlands, and I feel lucky to have been able to spend the day in this one, see his tools, block prints, and the museum's ingenious animation of some of his work. I did not see the other museum, but I recommend this one, Escher in Het Paleis (Escher in The Palace).

  3. Just found you at random when searching for Vorpal Gallery San Francisco M.C. Escher exhibit to find out what year it was.  I remember going to that exhibit as a high-schooler and being completely blown away. You may be interested to know, so was Sir Roger Penrose, one of the 2020 Nobel Prize physicists. Check out M.C. Escher's influence on him (& vice versa) during his recent YouTube interview at: m.youtube.com/watch?v=1zXC51o3Efl

    1. Nice to hear from you, Anne, and thank you for the YouTube URL. The URL had expired by the time I went looking for it, but it was easy to search for and find the new link. I recommend it also.

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