He played with architecture, perspective and impossible spaces. He would extend his passion for the Regular Division of the Plane, by using some of his drawings as the basis for yet another hobby, carving beech wood spheres. Escher became fascinated by the regular Division of the Plane, when he first visited the Alhambra, a fourteen-century Moorish castle in Granada, Spain in 1922.ĭuring the years in Switzerland and throughout the Second World War, he vigorously pursued his hobby, by drawing 62 of the total of 137 Regular Division Drawings he would make in his lifetime. Many of these sketches he would later use for various other lithographs and/or woodcuts and wood engravings, for example, the background in the lithograph Waterfall stems from his Italian period, or the trees reflecting in the woodcut Puddle, which are the same trees Escher used in his woodcut 'Pineta of Calvi', which he made in 1932. During these 11 years, Escher would travel each year throughout Italy, drawing and sketching for the various prints he would make when he returned home. They settled in Rome, where they stayed until 1935. After failing his high school exams, Maurits ultimately was enrolled in the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem.Īfter 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.Īfter finishing school, he travelled extensively through Italy, where he met his wife Jetta Umiker, whom he married in 1924. After 5 years the family moved to Arnhem where Escher spent most of his youth. He was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, as the fourth and youngest son of a civil engineer. Escher illustrated books, designed tapestries, postage stamps and murals. Escher was left-handed.Īpart from being a graphic artist, M.C.

Like some of his famous predecessors, - Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer and Holbein-, M.C. Escher, during his lifetime, made 448 lithographs, woodcuts and wood engravings and over 2000 drawings and sketches. 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. He is most famous for his so-called impossible constructions, such as Ascending and Descending, Relativity, his Transformation Prints, such as Metamorphosis I, Metamorphosis II and Metamorphosis III, Sky & Water I or Reptiles.īut he also made some wonderful, more realistic work during the time he lived and travelled in Italy.Ĭastrovalva for example, where one already can see Escher's fascination for high and low, close by and far away. His art is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world, as can be seen on the many websites on the internet. Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) is one of the world's most famous graphic artists. Ernst’s account was meticulously scrutinized and made accurate by the artist himself.Magic Mirror (1946) - Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972)Ĭollection: The Escher Foundation Collection Their discussions resulted in a friendship that gave Ernst intimate access to the life and conceptual world of Escher. Ernst visited Escher every week for a year, systematically talking through his entire oeuvre with him. By taking such a title for the book, mathematician Bruno Ernst stressed the enrapturing spell Escher’s work invariably casts on those who see it. His lithograph Magic Mirror dates as far back as 1946. Long before the first computer-generated 3-D images, Escher was a master of the third dimension. In your print Reptiles, you have given such a striking illustration of reincarnation.’ I replied, ‘Madame, if that’s the way you see it, so be it.’” A fittingly sly comment from renowned Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898–1972), whose complex and ambiguous drawings continue to leave hasty interpretations far behind. Escher, I am absolutely crazy about your work.

M.c escher magic mirror