Art of M.C. Escher, Page 4

Escher's art was inspired by tile work in the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain.  He first visited there in 1922.  In the summer of 1936, he returned with his wife, Jetta, and the two of them made sketches of the designs.  When he returned home, he fashioned woodcuts of the designs to make prints to be used as wrapping paper or used for advertising for the Italian shipping company that he used to get to Spain.