Metamorphosis II

	Metamorphosis II ''Metamorphosis II'' is a woodcut print by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher. It was created between November, 1939 and March, 1940. The print measures and was printed from 20 blocks on 3 combined sheets. ''Metamorphosis II'' is a long, horizontal piece which depicts animals and other forms gradually transforming into each other. Like ''Metamorphosis I'', the concept of the piece is to morph one image into a tessellated pattern and then slowly alter that pattern eventually to become a new image. The process begins with the word ''metamorphose'' (the Dutch form of the word ''metamorphosis'') in a black rectangle, followed by several smaller metamorphose rectangles forming a grid pattern. This grid then becomes a black and white checkered pattern, which then becomes tessellations of reptiles, a honeycomb, insects, fish, birds and a pattern of three-dimensional blocks with red tops. These blocks then become the architecture of the Italian coastal town of Atrani. Atrani is linked by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that the artist cuts away carry no ink, while characters or images at surface level carry the ink to produce the print. The block is cut along the wood grain (unlike wood engraving, where the block is cut in the end-grain). The surface is covered with ink by rolling over the surface with an ink-covered roller (brayer), leaving ink upon the flat surface but not in the non-printing areas. Multiple colors can be printed by keying the paper to a frame around the woodblocks (using a different block for each color). The art of carving the woodcut can be called "xylography", but this is rarely used in English for images alone, although that and "xylographic" are used in connection with block books, which are small books containing text and images in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
	Queen Sacrifice In chess, a queen sacrifice is a move that sacrifices a queen in return for some compensation, such as a tactical or positional advantage. Queen sacrifice: real versus sham In his book ''The Art of Sacrifice in Chess'', Rudolf Spielmann distinguishes between ''real'' and ''sham'' sacrifices. A sham sacrifice leads to a and immediate benefit for the sacrificer, usually in the form of a quick checkmate (or perpetual check or stalemate if seeking a draw), or the recouping of the sacrificed after a forced . Since any amount of material can be sacrificed as long as checkmate will be achieved, the queen is not above being sacrificed as part of a combination. Possible reasons for a sham queen sacrifice include: * a forced checkmate after the opponent takes the queen; * more than adequate material compensation (say, a rook and two knights) after a forced continuation; * clearing the way for a pawn's promotion to a replacement queen; * the subsequent capture of the opponent's queen, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Fish In Art Culture consists of the social behaviour and norms in human societies transmitted through social learning. Fish play many roles in human culture, from their economic importance in the fishing industry and fish farming, to recreational fishing, folklore, mythology, religion, art, literature, and film. Context Culture consists of the social behaviour and norms found in human societies and transmitted through social learning. Cultural universals in all human societies include expressive forms like art, music, dance, ritual, religion, and technologies like tool usage, cooking, shelter, and clothing. The concept of material culture covers physical expressions such as technology, architecture and art, whereas immaterial culture includes principles of social organization, mythology, philosophy, literature, and science. This article describes the roles played by fish in human culture, so defined. For food Throughout history, humans have utilized fish as a food source. Histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Chess In Art Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to distinguish it from related games, such as xiangqi (Chinese chess) and shogi (Japanese chess). The recorded history of chess goes back at least to the emergence of a similar game, chaturanga, in seventh-century India. The rules of chess as we know them today emerged in Europe at the end of the 15th century, with standardization and universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide. Chess is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no use of dice or cards. It is played on a chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the start, each player controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Birds In Art Human uses of birds have, for thousands of years, included both economic uses such as food, and symbolic uses such as art, music, and religion. In terms of economic uses, birds have been hunted for food since Palaeolithic times. They have been captured and bred as poultry to provide meat and eggs since at least the time of ancient Egypt. Some species have been used, too, to help locate or to catch food, as with cormorant fishing and the use of honeyguides. Feathers have long been used for bedding, as well as for quill pens and for fletching arrows. Today, many species face habitat loss and other threats caused by humans; bird conservation groups work to protect birds and to influence governments to do so. Birds have appeared in the mythologies and religions of many cultures since ancient Sumer. For example, the dove was the symbol of the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Inanna, the Canaanite mother goddess Asherah, and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	Woodcuts Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that the artist cuts away carry no ink, while characters or images at surface level carry the ink to produce the print. The block is cut along the wood grain (unlike wood engraving, where the block is cut in the end-grain). The surface is covered with ink by rolling over the surface with an ink-covered roller (brayer), leaving ink upon the flat surface but not in the non-printing areas. Multiple colors can be printed by keying the paper to a frame around the woodblocks (using a different block for each color). The art of carving the woodcut can be called "xylography", but this is rarely used in English for images alone, although that and "xylographic" are used in connection with block books, which are small books containing text and images in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]
picture info	1939 Works This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 Third Reich * Jews are forbidden to work with Germans. * The Youth Protection Act was passed on April 30, 1938 and the Working Hours Regulations came into effect. * The Jews name change decree has gone into effect. The rest of the world * In Spain, it becomes a duty of all young women under 25 to complete compulsory work service for one year. * First edition of the Vienna New Year's Concert. * The company of technology and manufacturing scientific instruments Hewlett-Packard, was founded in a garage in Palo Alto, California, by William (Bill) Hewlett and David Packard. This garage is now considered the birthplace of Silicon Valley. * Sydney, in Australia, records temperature of 45 ˚C, the highest record for the city. * Philipp Etter took over as Swiss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu]