March 30, 2026
Who really drew the impossible?
Oscar Reutersvärd (2021)
The hidden father of impossible art has fans flexing and nerds coding
TLDR: Swedish artist Oscar Reutersvärd pioneered the “impossible” triangle and staircase long before they were popularized, sparking a lively comment war over who deserves the crown. Fans oscillate between Escher love, math‑YouTube tinkering, and a humble‑brag about owning originals—turning a history lesson into a credit showdown.
Move over, Escher—Oscar Reutersvärd is crashing the credits! The Swedish artist sketched the “impossible” triangle and staircase decades before the Penroses published them and long before Escher made them famous. That revelation has the comments buzzing with equal parts awe and side‑eye. Some readers are chanting “credit the Swede!”, while others insist Escher’s magic was making the illusions feel real, not just inventing them.
One fan gushes, “I love Eschers works,” then drops a geeky mic: 3Blue1Brown “just released an amazing video” on Escher’s “Print Gallery,” inspiring a DIY WebGL (web graphics) recreation. Translation: math YouTube + caffeine = home‑made mind‑bender. Meanwhile, another commenter casually detonates the thread by bragging: “I have two of his original drawings/paintings… at home.” Cue chaos. People joked about Sweden being a secret outlet mall for mind‑melting art and the “impossible triangle” becoming the “impossible price tag.”
The big debate? Inventor vs. popularizer. Reutersvärd kept it clean and mathematical—straight parallel lines, no vanishing point—while Escher dressed the tricks in everyday scenes. Purists argue the father deserves the crown; showmen say the magician who wowed the world wins. Either way, the community’s climbing an infinite staircase of credit and loving every dizzy step. Bonus: you can window‑shop Escher here and fall down the math rabbit hole with 3Blue1Brown here.
Key Points
- •Oscar Reutersvärd created the impossible triangle in 1934 and the impossible staircase in 1937, predating the Penroses’ 1958 publication.
- •M.C. Escher’s iconic prints used impossible figures; the triangle and staircase were presented to him by Lionel and Roger Penrose.
- •Roger Penrose learned in 1984 that Reutersvärd had devised the triangle and staircase decades earlier.
- •Reutersvärd’s method relied on isometric projection, producing thousands of plain, undecorated impossible forms, unlike Escher’s realistic settings.
- •Reutersvärd’s career spanned art and academia: studies in Paris with Fernand Léger, a 1953 Paris exhibition, public sculptures and mazes in Sweden, and professorship at Lund University (1964–1981).