Encounter, from May 1944, and Reptiles are the better-known works Escher produced during the war. He describes Encounter like this*:
Out from the grey surface of a back wall there develops a complicated pattern of white and black figures of little men. And since men who desire to live need at least a floor to walk on, a floor has been designed for them, with a circular gap in the middle so that as much as possible can still be seen of the back wall. In this way they are forced not only to walk in a ring, but also meet each other in the foreground: a white optimist and a black pessimist shaking hands with one another.'
M.C. Escher, Ontmoeting, litho, mei 1944
The optimist has his hand open, as a gesture of friendship. The pessimist has his finger raised, as a warning. Yet they shake hands, which lends the print a touch of the encouraging in these times of war.
Regular division drawing no. 63 (Pessimist-Optimist), ink, coloured pencil and and watercolour on paper, January 1944
M.C. Escher, study for Encounter, pencil on paper, 1944
M.C. Escher, study for Encounter, pencil on paper, 1944 (detail)
M.C. Escher, Encounter, lithograph, May 1944 (detail)
Source
[*] M.C. Escher, The Graphic Work, TASCHEN, 2001, blz. 11
