Headpiece with eels in 'Art and Society'

Dijsselhof – a very skilled woodcutter – is regarded as the father of Dutch Art Nouveau. This movement is characterized by symmetry, interlocking (repeating) forms and organic motifs with limited spatial suggestion. The Nieuwe Kunst can therefore be seen as the fertile soil in which Escher could take root. For both artists, fish were a very popular subject. Their form and flexibility offer the possibility of arriving at a decorative pattern.