It’s difficult to look away from the prints of M. C. Escher (1898–1972). Staircases loop weirdly back on themselves. Fish morph into birds. Hands draw other hands. Trained as a graphic artist, Escher had no formal mathematical education, and yet he corresponded with mathematicians who recognized in his work an intuitive understanding of sophisticated theoretical concepts. Somerset House now presents London’s first major Escher exhibition, with over 150 original works tracing his entire career—beginning with the early Italian landscapes, then on to the tessellations and metamorphoses, and culminating in the impossible constructions that brought him renown. —Elena Clavarino