"I could fill an entire second life with working on my prints."

May 8, 2018 7:56 AM

The Boston Public Library has digitized their collection of prints and drawings by M.C. Escher. View the full collection here. (h/t Kottke.org)
posted by Doktor Zed (10 comments total)

Thanks for this. I'd love if I could download some of these in full resolution. I found a link to medium sized previews in the source but I guess the full res version is obscured by javascript?
posted by Evstar at 8:42 AM on May 8, 2018

They are being displayed in Seadragon, which chops images up into tiles for faster extreme zooming. Dezoomify doesn't seem to like their particular implementation of openseadragon and fails on it, so that's not much help.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:33 AM on May 8, 2018

Aha, I've managed to coax it into producing high-resolution images.

You can find the id for the image in the source code for the page, look for the line that begins "tileSources:" and take the slug that comes after "commonwealth" and put it in here:

https://iiif.digitalcommonwealth.org/commonwealth:**ID**/0,0,4096,8192/4096,/0/default.jpg

(that last 4096 controls how large the image is. It might be too large sometimes, if your browser starts to stutter or not load it, try 2048).
posted by BungaDunga at 9:42 AM on May 8, 2018 [6 favorites]

Thanks, BungaDunga! These will make great desktop wallpapers.
posted by Evstar at 10:10 AM on May 8, 2018

Thanks so much. There are a few I'd never seen before. I suspect that the art establishment is a bit snooty about it, but I love Escher's work. No doubt his prints have been hung in a million undergrad bedrooms, but his stuff is just so exacting and exhilarating and strange... I never tire of it.
posted by misterbee at 4:55 PM on May 8, 2018 [2 favorites]

IIIF is an image server protocol which is becoming widespread in the cultural heritage community. If you’re wondering what all of those parameters do, see the spec. The growing list of applications may also be of interest.
posted by adamsc at 7:11 PM on May 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

I suspect that the art establishment is a bit snooty about it.

I have no time for such people. It's just elitism. Escher was, without doubt, a genius.
posted by adept256 at 3:01 AM on May 9, 2018

If you’re wondering what all of those parameters do, see the spec.

Aha, so the proper way to request the full image is

https://iiif.digitalcommonwealth.org/commonwealth%3A3r076r92w/full/full/0/default.jpg

Escher was, without doubt, a genius.

You are not wrong, and the more I've looked into his stuff, the more of a genius he appears.
posted by BungaDunga at 10:44 AM on May 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

Escher befriended and was corresponding with the likes of Roger Penrose as well. When most people see stuff like Penrose stairs, it is Escher's rendering that comes to mind.

It is funny because as a young kid I had a set of mentors that included Penrose and Escher - along with Martin Gardner and others. So it is heartening to learn of these close connections.
posted by vacapinta at 1:24 PM on May 9, 2018

>> I suspect that the art establishment is a bit snooty about it.
> I have no time for such people. It's just elitism. Escher was, without doubt, a genius.

If you are in the Boston Metro Area, the Museum of Fine Arts has been displaying many of Escher's originals, drafts, and sketches. It ends on May 28, so you have ONE WEEK left to see them in SUPER DUPER HIGH DEF.

Protip: If you go Wednesday Night (5/23), it's FREE. (As is the entire museum, which is also showing Klimt and other cool-ass shit.)
posted by not_on_display at 12:54 PM on May 21, 2018 [1 favorite]