Lessons in Duality and Symmetry from M. C. Escher

Abstract

The Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher (1898-1972) carried out mathematical investigations that led to symmetry drawings of three distinct kinds of tilings with two colors, capturing the essence of duality. He used several of these drawings as key elements in his prints that further expressed ideas of duality. One of the most complex of his “duality” tilings was realized in Delft ceramic tile, wrapped around a large column for a school in Baarn, Holland. Recently, a Salish artist in Victoria, BC, Canada, has independently produced a tiling that contains many of the same elements as Escher’s complex duality tilings.