M C ESCHER M C ESCHER 1898-1971

Castrovalva 1930 Lithograph

Sarah Gleichman Escher, had three sons of which Maurits (called Mauk for short) was the youngest. His father, George, was a civil engineer. The Escher family was living in Leeuwarden in 1898, where George served as Chief Engineer for a government bureau. The family lived in a grand house named "Princessehof," which would later become a museum and host exhibitions of M.C. Escher's works. Young M.C. Escher moved with his family to Arnhem. He attended elementary and secondary school there, and also in the seaside town of Zandvoort, where he lived for a while to improve his health. In 1907, he started learning carpentry and piano. In secondary school, his marks were poor except in drawing. His art teacher took and interest in his drawing talent, and taught him to make linocuts. He failed his final exam and thus never officially graduated. In 1913, M.C. Escher met his lifelong friend Bas Kist in religious school (which he attended at his parent's direction, even though he wasn't very religious). Kist was also interested in printing techniques, and may have encouraged M.C. to make his first linoleum cut works.

Eye 1946 Mezzotint

In 1918, Escher began private lessons and studies in architecture at the Higher Technology School in Delft. He managed to get a deferment on military service in order to study, but poor health prevented him from keeping up with the military program. He was rejected for military service in 1919, and as a result could not continue school (he had never successfully graduated from high school). During this difficult period, Escher did many drawings, and also began using woodcuts as a medium. Still trying to pursue a career in architecture, M.C. Escher next moved to Haarlem Studies as the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts. He began the full-time study of graphic and decorative arts in the fall of 1919.. In 1921, Escher and his parents visited the Riviera and Italy. Unimpressed by the tropical flowers of the Mediterranean climate, he made detailed drawings of cactus and olive trees. He also sought out high places and dramatic vistas to sketch, some of his later works were influenced by these sights. Escher started to experiment with themes that would influence his later works.

Sky and Water 1938 Woodcut

In 1922, in search of fresh inspiration, he decided to go to Italy. He returned to Holland after only a couple of weeks in Florence, and Escher went on to San Gimignano. He did a great deal of serious drawing here and in the next few towns he visited: Volterra and Siena. He spent all of the spring of 1922 roaming the Italian countryside, drawing landscapes, plants, and even insects. In Assissi he met a fellow Dutchman, the painter Gerretsen. The two met occasionally over the next few years. Returning home in June, Escher found that he could not be happy and productive in his old environment. He seized his first opportunity to return to southern Europe, taking a freighter to Spain with some friends, and saving expenses by caring for their two small children on the trip. It was on this trip that he first saw the phenomenon of a phosphorescent sea, so beautifully expressed later in his woodcut of the same name. In Spain, he saw his first bullfight: an "off-putting and barbaric" event. He visited Madrid and its famous museum, the Prado, but was unimpressed by many of the paintings there. Surprisingly, he also attended another bullfight. He dodged large rats to find a place to draw in Toledo. Missing an express train, he spent 24 hours on a local train to get to Granada. In Granada, Escher visited the Alhambra, and saw examples of Moorish (Arabic) decorative styles. He studied these, and copied one.

Three Worlds 1955 Lithograph

Escher traveled from Spain to Italy by ship, and enjoyed the voyage immensely, splitting his time between drawing the ship and playing cards with the officers. After traveling around Italy, he settled in Siena for several months. During this time he worked very hard and enjoyed himself immensely, calling the town and atmosphere "blessed." March of 1923 found Escher still working hard and traveling around Italy. At the end of the month, a Swiss family took up residence at the pension where Escher was staying. Over the next few months, Escher found himself drawn to the daughter of the family, Jetta Umiker. Escher traveled around Italy some more, and in August of 1923 held his first one-man show in Siena. He paid very little attention to this important milestone in his artistic career, he was concentrating on Jetta. In mid-August he proposed to her, and on August 28 arrived in Zurich to formally meet the family. They decided to marry and live in Italy.

Dewdrop 1948 Mezzotint

1924 was a very busy year for M. C. Escher 1924 was a very busy year for M.C. Escher. He held his first one-man show in his native Holland in February. At the end of 1924, Escher and his new bride purchased a house under construction in Frascati, a small town outside of Rome. Shortly after Escher moved into his new home outside of Rome, his brother was killed in a mountaineering accident, and Escher had to go to the site to identify the body. After this tragedy, Escher produced his famous Days of Creation woodcuts. In late July, George Escher was born. It is a measure of Escher's growing fame that both King Emmanuel and Mussolini attended the boy's christening. Living in Rome, happy with his wife and child, the late 1920s were a productive period for Escher. He exhibited works in many shows in Holland, and by 1929 was so popular that he was able to hold five shows in Holland and Switzerland that year.     It was during this period that his pictures were first labeled as mechanical and "reasoned." Pictures from this period include some of Escher's most striking landscapes, and also some stark commercial illustrations. The very famous lithographic of a mountainside village, Castrovalva, was completed in February 1930. Also, Escher's son Arthur was born in 1930.

Gravitation 1952 Lithograph

           It was during this period that his pictures were first labeled as mechanical and "reasoned." Pictures from this period include some of Escher's most striking landscapes, and also some stark commercial illustrations. The very famous lithographic of a mountainside village, Castrovalva, was completed in February 1930. Also, Escher's son Arthur was born in 1930. In 1934, Escher and his family went to the seashore, and then Escher and his wife continued on to Belgium, Ghent, and Bruges. In the meantime, his work was doing well in the US. His print Nonza won third prize at the Exhibition of Contemporary Prints at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Art Institute also purchased the print, which was Escher's first sale to a museum in America.

In 1936, Escher visited Alhambra for the second time, again studying the Moorish tiles. This visit, plus his departure from Italy, can be seen as forces which pushed him in new directions. In a 1960 book introduction, he wrote the following. “The fact that, from 1938 onwards, I concentrated more on the interpretation of personal ideas was primarily the result of my departure from Italy. In Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland where I successfully established myself, I found the outward appearance of landscapes and architecture to be less striking than those which are particularly to be seen in the southern part of Italy. Thus I felt compelled to withdraw from the more or less direct and true-to-life illustrating of my surroundings”. These personal circumstances, caused in part by the brewing war, were in large part responsible for Escher turning inward for vision. In mid-1937, the Escher family resettled in Ukkel, a suburb of Brussels, Belgium.

Hand with Reflecting Globe 1935 Lithograph

In May 1940, the Nazi Army invaded Holland and Belgium; Brussels and its suburbs were occupied on the 17th. At the end of May, Escher's mother died. Due to the invasion, he missed her funeral at The Hague. Escher spent the rest of 1940 settling his mother's affairs, and executing a commission to decorate the town hall of Leiden. He and Jetta found a house in Baarn, Holland, and moved there in February of 1941.                          The Nazi persecution of the Jews touched Escher in a very personal way. His old teacher, Samuel de Mesquita, a Jew, was taken away by the Nazis in January of 1944, and was killed. Escher helped to transfer Mesquita's works at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. He kept for himself a sketch that bore the imprint of a German boot, and kept it with his drawing supplies for the rest of his life. In 1946, he organized a memorial showing for Mesquita at the Stedelijk. Immediately after the war ended, Escher participated in a show of works by artists who had refused to collaborate with the Nazi regime. Afterwards, he earned several new commissions, including one to make 400 copies of one of his prints for distribution to schools.

Puddle 1952 Woodcut

Also during the early 1950s, Escher gained popularity as a lecturer Also during the early 1950s, Escher gained popularity as a lecturer. He was in demand both for artistic audiences, and for scientific ones. He also held his first one-man exhibition in the United States. It was held in Washington, and raised US awareness of Escher's work and sold many prints. Due to the rush of work, Escher completed only two new works in 1954. Drawing Hands 1948 Lithograph

During the month of March, 1972, Escher's health deteriorated During the month of March, 1972, Escher's health deteriorated. His family gathered around him, taking turns sitting by his hospital bed. On March 27, 1972, he died, at the age of 73. Concave and Convex 1955 Lithograph

Cycle 1938 Lithograph

Reptiles 1943 Lithograph