Maurits Cornelis Escher, usually referred to as M. C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist.

Born: June 17, 1898, Leeuwarden, Netherlands.

Died: March 27, 1972, Laren, North Holland, Netherlands.

This woodcut artwork was made by Escher in June 1938.

It is called ‘Sky and Water I’ and it measures 43.5 cm x 43.9 cm.

The basis of this print is a regular division of the plane consisting of birds and fish.

As the fish progress upward and the birds downward they gradually lose their shapes to become a uniform background of sky and water, respectively.

According to Escher: "In the horizontal center strip there are birds and fish equivalent to each other. We associate flying with sky, and so for each of the black birds the sky in which it is flying is formed by the four white fish which encircle it. Similarly swimming makes us think of water, and therefore the four black birds that surround a fish become the water in which it swims."

I really enjoy Escher’s work especially this particular piece, it has so much meaning and its very powerful, he is comparing two animals a fish and a bird, which is impossible for a fish to be like a bird because it swims under the water whereas a bird fly's in the sky.

The colours on this print are black and white.