Detail from "Metamorphose II", Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898 - 1972) Woodcut in three colors, 19 × 389.5 cm Between 1938 and 1940 Escher create a thirteen foot "woodcut strip" called "Metamorphose II" which shows a gradual progression of transformation. The woodcut was in black, green and brown, printed from twenty-three blocks on three combined sheets. The word "metamorphose" becomes a springboard for the images. Escher describes the following: "Placed horizontally and vertically in the plane, with the letters o and m as points of intersection the words are gradually transformed into a mosaic of black and white squares which in turn develop into reptiles. Now the rhythm changes...by and by each each figure simplifies into a regular hexagon. At this point an association of ideas occurs: hexagons are reminiscent of the cells of a honeycomb, and no sooner has this thought occurred than a bee larva begins to stir in every cell... and so forth, continuing with images of birds, fish and even a city, and then back to abstract shapes and letters."

M.C. Escher - The official M.C. Escher homepage. M.C. Escher: Artist or Mathematician - This site provides a significant amount of information about the life and work of this great artist. Includes links to a detailed biography, a page of twenty-five enlargeable images, and a demonstration of his tessellations. World of Escher - This commercial site provides information about the life and works of M. C. Escher. The site includes a biography, a library of essays and a gallery which contains enlargeable images. Escher Patterns - A Japanese site with a lot of Escher patterns. Interactive Online Geometry - Kali is an interactive editor for symmetric patterns of the plane, as seen in some of the woodcuts of M.C. Escher. It's also a fun way to learn about the 17 crystallographic symmetry groups of the plane.