Boven en onder (Up and Down) (1947)Signed lower leftSigned with monogram and dated VII-’47 in the stone lower rightFrom the unnumbered edition of four hundred impressions printed for VAEVO (aside the numbered edition of 36 impressions printed in brown and a second numbered edition of 17 impressions printed in black)Lithograph printed in black, 505 x 205 mm (image size) / 588 x 285 mm (sheet size)Provenance:- Private collection, the Netherlands- Auction AAG Auctioneers, Amsterdam, 7 juni 2010, lot 82 - Private collection, the Netherlands- Auction AAG Auctioneers, Amsterdam, 28 november 2011, lot 162- Private collection, the NetherlandsLiterature: Bool 352 (ill. 293)Note:Maurits Cornelis Escher, known as M.C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist who was specialised in mathematically inspired art. He created numerous mind-bending woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints that play with mathematically based concepts such as impossible objects, reflections on perspective, symmetry, and infinity, as well as tessellations. Despite Escher's belief that he had no real mathematical ability, he surrounded himself with highly educated people and was adept in many fields of study. In this work, Escher managed to defy gravity. What appears to one person to be the top of a staircase is the bottom to another, as the drawing captures attention by merging two perspectives at the same time into a single image. We can see a young man sitting on a staircase, approaching a girl on the balcony of a hacienda. The architecture of impossible constructions reveals the overflowing creativity of the artist. Escher was able to transform his imaginative and often humorous ideas into optical illusions and impossible realities. Whimsical, yet always executed with astounding technical precision.Please note: condition reports and additional photos are available upon request.