Escher in Het Paleis
information
Index
Escher Forever ................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Biography........................................................................................................................................................................ 5
The technique behind Escher’s prints ........................................................................................................................ 7
Escher and the concept of tessellation .................................................................................................................... 8
Books................................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Escher Forever
Escher in Het Paleis is since 2002 dedicated to the work of Hollands most famous graphical
artist: M.C. Escher (1898-1972). Since September 2009 we made a new exhibition with his
work:
ESCHER FOREVER: a different perspective on the life and work of M.C. Escher
M.C. Escher’s prints are based on two main themes: ETERNITY & INFINITY
The natural world, perspective and reflection play
the major role in the prints based on the idea of
eternity. These are subjects that have occupied
artists over the centuries. The theme of infinity
embraces mathematical principles such as the
division of the plane, the multiple facets of stars and
planets and the structure of crystals.
Eternity and infinity in Escher’s work are usually
discussed and presented separately. It seems as if
traditional subjects such as nature featured most
strongly in his Italian period (1924-1935), while infinity (or mathematics) came to predominate
after 1937. Escher for ever: a different perspective on the life and work of M.C. Escher shows
that both elements are closely interwoven.
In his Italian period the natural world occupied the foreground, but he was still producing fine
works such as Three Worlds and Puddle later in his career. He created his first large tessellation
in 1922. When he took up this theme again after 1937, nature in the form of birds, fish and
reptiles was his greatest source of inspiration.
Cycles, circle limits, metamorphoses, perpetual motion and
interconnected spaces are the factors linking eternity and infinity.
In the last ten years of his working life (1959 to 1969), perpetual
motion was the subject of Ascending and Descending, Möbius
Strip II and Waterfall. Escher defied the laws of central perspective
in Belvedere and Relativity and he connected various spaces to
arrive at impossible structures in Other World, Up and Down and
House of Stairs.
The combination of traditional artistic subjects and specific
mathematical insights is key to Escher's work and was very unusual
at the time. The mathematical themes go beyond the traditional
boundaries of art, but give his prints their power to mystify. He
shared these preferences with great artists from the past such as
Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Antoni Gaudí.
In this new presentation we don’t present the works
of M.C. Escher in a chronological order, but all the
rooms have a theme. In this way we hope to show
you Escher has been fascinated all through his life
by certain themes. There are special rooms
dedicated to nature, perspective, tesselation,
cycle and the structure of space by M.C. Escher.
The exhibition is completed by an extra
presentation about Optical Illusion on the third
floor.
In all the former Royal rooms we have window screens with
information about Queen Emma who lived here during the
winter from 1901 till her death in 1934. Room 12 and 13 are
dedicated to Queen Emma. All these rooms have also new
chandeliers designed by the Dutch sculptor Hans van Bentem.
He had them made in Bohemia.
The parquet floor in the Palace has been designed in 1991/92
by the American minimal artist Donald Judd on the occasion of
the opening of the former Royal palace as a exhibition Palace.
The sculptures of Judd consist of series of simple geometric forms, for example rectangular or
square cubes in different colours. He believed that art should not be representational: the
work should exist as an independent object in its own right.
Judd applied the principle of different colours and geometric patterns to the parquet floor in
the Palace. In the rooms housing the Escher exhibition the geometric pattern seems to
compartmentalise the space. At the same time, it appears logical: the parquet fits naturally
into the nineteenth-century rooms, merging into the space.
Biography
1898
Maurits Cornelis Escher is born on 17 June
in Leeuwarden, in the Dutch province of
Friesland.
1903
The family moves to Arnhem.
1912-18
Escher attends
Arnhem.
secondary
school
in
1916
First graphic work.
1917
The family moves to
Oosterbeek.
1919-1922
Escher attends the
School
for
Architecture
and
Decorative Arts in
Haarlem;
lessons
from S. Jessurun de
Mesquita.
1921
March-May: holiday trip along the French
Riviera and through Italy. In November the
booklet Flor de Pascua, with woodcuts by
Escher, is published.
1925
They live in their own house in Rome from
October onwards.
1926
2-16 May: exhibition in Rome. Son George
is born on 23 July.
1927-35
Yearly spring trips through inhospitable
areas of Italy.
1928
Son Arthur is born on 8 December.
1932
In the summer the book XXIV Emblemata
dat zijn zinne-beelden, with woodcuts by
Escher, is published.
1933
In the autumn De vreeselijke avonturen
van Scholastica (The Terrible Adventures of
Scholastica) is published, also with
woodcuts by Escher.
1934
Escher’s litograph Nonza is awarded a
third prize at an exhibition in Chicago. 12 –
22 December: exhibition at the Dutch
Historical Institute in Rome.
1935
In July the
Switzerland.
Escher
family
moves
to
1922
April-June: journey through northern Italy.
In September Escher travels by freighter to
Tarragona; trip through Spain and first visit
to the Alhambra; on to Italy, where he
stays in Siena from mid-November
onwards.
1936
April-June: sea trip along the coasts of Italy
and France to Spain, where Escher visits
the Alhambra for the second time, as well
as the mosque in Córdoba. Turning-point in
Escher’s work - from ‘landscapes’ to
‘mental imagery’.
1923
From March to June Escher stays in
Ravello, where he meets
Jetta Umiker. Back in
Siena end of June. 13-26
August: first one-man
exhibition in Siena. Moves
to Rome in November.
1937
In August the Eschers move to Brussels.
1924
In February first exhibition
in Holland. Escher and
Jetta are married on 16
June.
1938
Son Jan is born on 6 March.
1939
Escher’s father dies on 14 June.
1940
In May the book M.C. Escher en zijn
experimenten (M.C. Escher and his
experiments) is published. Escher’s mother
dies on 27 May.
1941
In February the Eschers move to Baarn in
Holland.
1951
Articles on Escher are published The Studio
and Time and Life magazines.
1954-61
Each year Escher makes a sea voyage to
and/ or from Italy.
1954
In September, one-man exhibition at the
Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam on the
occasion
of
the
International
Mathematical Conference. In October
and November, exhibition in the Whyte
Gallery, Washington, D.C.
1965
In March Escher is awarded the cultural
prize of the city of Hilversum. In August
Symmetry Aspects of M.C. Escher’s
Periodic
Drawings
by
Caroline
H.
MacGillavry is published. An article on
Escher appears in the October issue of
Jardin des Arts.
1966
Scientific American publishes a long article
on Escher in its April issue.
1967
Second decoration.
1955
In February the Eschers move to a new
house in Baarn. On 30 April Escher is
knighted.
1958
Early
in
the
year
Escher’s
book
Regelmatige vlakverdeling (The Regular
Division of the Plane) is published.
1959
In November Grafiek en tekeningen M.C.
Escher (The Graphic work of M.C. Escher,
1961) is published.
1960
In August exhibition and lecture in
Cambridge
during
an
international
conference of crystallographers. AugustOctober: sea voyage to Canada. Lecture
at MIT in Cambridge, Massechusetts, end
of October.
1961
Article on Escher by E.H. Gombrich in the
Saturday Evening Post of 29 July.
1962
In April Escher is admitted to hospital for an
emergency operation; he takes a long
time to recover.
1964
On 1 October Escher and Jetta fly to
Canada, where he falls ill again and has to
undergo another operation in Toronto.
1968
Exhibitions in Washington, D.C. (Mickelson
Gallery)
and
The
Hague
(Gemeentemuseum). In July Escher makes
his last graphic work, a woodcut. At the
end of the year Jetta leaves for Switserland
to live with their son Jan. Escher lives on his
own with a housekeeper.
1970
In the spring Escher is re-admitted to
hospital for another major operation. In
August he moves to the Rosa Spier House
in Laren.
1971
In December De Werelden van M.C.
Escher (The World of M.C. Escher, 1972) is
published.
1972
Escher dies on 27 March in the hospital in
Hilversum.
The technique behind Escher’s prints
M.C. Escher was a graphic artist, specialising in woodcuts and lithographs. Woodcuts are
made by cutting a design into a block of wood, lithographs by drawing an image on a
specially treated flat stone. A woodcut is a form of relief printing: a gouge is used to carve
out parts of a wood block leaving a raised image. Ink is applied to these raised parts and
then a sheet of paper is pressed onto the inked block.
A lithograph is a form of flat or offset printing: the ink is applied to the flat stone and paper
then placed on top. In the display case in room 1 you can see wood blocks used by Escher
and a litho stone used by another artist (Theo van Hoytema).
The various steps involved in making a woodcut and a lithograph are shown here. A print is a
mirror image of the wood block or the litho stone.
TEMPLE OF SEGESTA
Drawing
Woodcut
Copies can be made of a print. We call this a series. All prints in a series are identical: though
the colour may vary, the image or representation is always the same.
Escher and the concept of tessellation
In these illustrations Escher explained the concept of the regular division of the plane (today
called tessellation, or more precisely, isohedral tiling) with a number of variations.
Mathematicians and crystallographers have classified these into a total of seventeen
different systems, according to symmetries. Escher was not a mathematician: he discovered
these systems himself through continual experimentation with new variations.
Escher regarded tessellation as his most important theme, a way of expressing his fascination
with eternity and infinity in different ways. At the same time, he applied these principles in
commissioned work: tile tableaux, inlaid work and wooden balls. Escher produced his first
large tessellation in 1922. Later, he found the Moorish tiling in the Alhambra and the
decorative Etruscan tiles in Ravello so inspiring that he copied them, sometimes together with
his wife Jetta.
Books
M.C. Escher: His Life and Complete Graphic Work
by J.L. Locher, Amsterdam 1981
Een Biografie
by W. Hazeu, Amsterdam 1998 (Dutch version only)
The Graphic Work of M.C. Escher
by M.C. Escher
The Magic of M.C. Escher
by J.L. Locher and W.F. Veldhuysen, New York, London 2000
M.C. Escher: Visions of Symmetry (new edition)
by D. Schattschneider, New York and London, 2004
Escher on Escher: Exploring the Infinite
by M.C. Escher, Amsterdam, 1986
The Magic Mirror of M.C. Escher
by Bruno Ernst, Amsterdam, 1976
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Copyright © to the Escher prints rests with: The M.C. Escher Company BV, Baarn