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Oscar Reutersvärd (2021)

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Why This Matters

Oscar Reutersvärd's pioneering work with impossible figures has influenced visual arts and optical illusions, gaining renewed recognition through stamps and publications. His unique approach to impossible shapes highlights the enduring fascination with visual perception and mathematical art, inspiring both artists and designers. Despite being less globally renowned than Escher, Reutersvärd's contributions continue to shape the exploration of optical illusions in the digital age.

Key Takeaways

In 1982, the Swedish Post issued three stamps featuring three of Oscar Reutersvärd’s impossible figures, including his first-ever impossible triangle. It triggered a resurgence in popularity for Reutersvärd in his native country. That year, a book containing a selection of his drawings was published too. Although it has been translated into several languages, Reutersvärd has always lost out to Escher globally. The question is whether he thought that was a problem. His impossible figures were mainly the visual expression of a quest. An account of an obsession that had completely taken over him.

It was not until 1985 and 1986 that Bruno Ernst brought the two artists together in his books Adventures with Impossible Figures and The Eye Beguiled: Optical Illusions. Reutersvärd, meanwhile, steadily continued with his own impossible figures, until his death in 2002.