M.C. Escher

M.C. Escher

M.C. Escher was a Dutch graphic artist, most recognized for spatial

illusions, impossible buildings, repeating geometric patterns

(tessellations), and his incredible techniques in woodcutting and

lithography.

· M.C. Escher was born June 1898 and died March 1972. His work

continues to fascinate both young and old across a broad spectrum of

interests.

· M.C. Escher was a man studied and greatly appreciated by respected

mathematicians, scientists and crystallographers yet he had no formal

training in math or science. He was a humble man who considered

himself neither an artist or mathematician.

· Intricate repeating patterns, mathematically complex structures,

spatial perspectives all require a "second look". In Escher's work

what you see the first time is most certainly not all there is to

see.

Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) is one of the world's most famous

graphic artists. His art is enjoyed by millions of people all over the

world, as can be seen on the many web sites on the internet.

He is most famous for his so-called impossible structures, such as

Ascending and Descending, Relativity, his Transformation Prints, such

as Metamorphosis I, Metamorphosis II and Metamorphosis III, Sky &

Water I or Reptiles.

But he also made some wonderful, more realistic work during the time

he lived and traveled in Italy.

Castrovalva for example, where one already can see Escher's

fascination for high and low, close by and far away. The lithograph

Atrani, a small town on the Amalfi Coast was made in 1931, but comes

back for example, in his masterpiece Metamorphosis I and II

M.C. Escher, during his lifetime, made 448 lithographs, woodcuts and

wood engravings and over 2000 drawings and sketches. Like some of his

famous predecessors, - Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer and

Holbein-, M.C. Escher was left-handed.

Apart from being a graphic artist, M.C. Escher illustrated books,

designed tapestries, postage stamps and murals. He was born in

Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, as the fourth and youngest son of a civil

engineer. After 5 years the family moved to Arnhem where Escher spent

most of his youth. After failing his high school exams, Maurits

ultimately was enrolled in the School for Architecture and Decorative

Arts in Haarlem

After only one week, he informed his father that he would rather study

graphic art instead of architecture, as he had shown his drawings and

linoleum cuts to his graphic teacher Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, who

encouraged him to continue with graphic arts.

After finishing school, he traveled extensively through Italy, where

he met his wife Jetta Umiker, whom he married in 1924.