Hello, readers!
I've been way stuck on painters lately, so let's mix things up at least a little...Here's the deliciously mind-boggling graphic artist, M.C. Escher!
M.C. Escher (1898-1972) - Graphic Artist
"Are you really sure that a floor can't also be a ceiling?"
M.C., or Maurits Cornelius Escher, was a Dutch artist famous for his lithographs, wood cuts, and mathematically challenging "impossible structures." He spend a great deal of time in Italy throughout his career, otherwise living in Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The cold, damp climates of the latter countries forced him to become absorbed in his work since he cared little for those vistas.
"He who wonders discovers that this in itself a wonder."
What I love about Escher, besides trying to figure out his impossible concepts, is the detail and breadth of his work. I love that little kitty cat lithograph, the realistic detail in the ball reflection (except the figure looks like a cartoon, you'll notice!), the symmetry, and play between line, space, and form. He keeps you guessing and he is one artist that, for me, really embodies the idea of the limitless creativity of the mind.
"Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it's in my basement...let me go upstairs and check."
Actually, Escher did not have mathematical training, but as you can see, many of his works (many different types of his works!) have strong mathematical components that Escher developed intuitively on his own. Many included tesselations like the piece above. This mathematical trend first appeared in his work around 1936 when he was journeying through the Mediterranean.
First thing you should know is that Loreius Tiburtinus is a completely fabricated name. There's nothing about the house that actually indicates it belonged to "Loreius Tiburtinus" or that that person even existed. It also goes by the House of Octavius Quartio, a name discovered in one of the shops along the front. Most of the garden houses are also located near the amphitheater.
What makes this property interesting is that it is 75% (I'm ball parking that) garden, for only 25% house. As you can see in the plan, there are two long, narrow, rectangles that form a t-shape. These are decorative water pools known as euripi (euripus, singular). They are plastered and painted, framed in white marble and are about 5-6 feet deep. There were animal figurines (sphynx, dogs or lions killing other animals) and taller figures of Greek muses on square pillars flanking these pools. 
Outside, on either side of this fountain, are two paintings. The left painting is of Narcissus, a popular figure in Pompeii. The right is of 
Franz Marc was born in Munich on February 8th, 1880, son of a professional landscape painter. His formal training as an artist began at age 20 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, continuing informally in Paris from 1903-1907. In 1911, he founded Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) journal, which developed into an artist's circle with Wassily Kandinsky and August Macke, among other German artists. He organized exhibitions under the Blaue Reiter name in 1911 and 1912. He was heavily intrigued by Vincent Van Gogh and those of the Impressionist movement in France. 
Tragic as his end was, it is what he accomplished in life that we want to remember! Der Blaue Reiter group believed that art should suggest spiritual themes. Marc chose to depict animals because he believed them to be more noble and natural than humans. He gave emotional meaning to what he painted, particularly with the colors. 
In this painting, Rehe im Walde II (Deer in Woods II, 1914), Marc represents a family of deer crouched in the woods. The blue deer is the buck, the masculine leader of this little group. The fawn is in yellow, symbolizing the joy of a child. The doe, in red, has changed its symbolism here to mean femininity and motherhood. As Marc previously believed that red symbolized "matter" and earth, it's easy to see how he could make the leap to encompass motherhood. 
