M.C. Escher

the long version

"Mauritz Cornelis Escher was a truly unique artist whose vision was quite unlike anyone else's. To enter his world is to set foot into unknown territory. His extraordinary pictures of logic and perspective fool the brain into believing the impossible - that staircases can clim forever, that fish can morph into birds, and that water can run uphill. Escher was a stunning graphic illustrator, especially of landscape and architecture - and in particular of [Italian] hilltop towns. ... Remarkably, Escher had no mathematical training, but through his superb draughtsmanship he explored the furthest reaches of crystallography and defied the laws of reason and perception. ..."--Jacket.