MC Escher
Born in Leeuwarden in Holland on 17th June 1898 MC Escher's full name
is Maurits Cornelis Escher but he seems always to be referred to as
MC Escher (although his nicknamed was "Mauk". MC Escher is
best known for his woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints with
impossible
constructions, illusions of infinity, architecture, and
tessellations. He worked primarily in the media of
lithographs and woodcuts, though the
few mezzotints MC Escher made are considered to be
masterpieces. Although MC Escher produced an amazing variety
of work he is mostly
known for his “impossibles” where he would mix concave and convex
perspectives in ways that could not exist in three
dimensions. Or Escher
might alter structures so that the beginning and end of a sequence join
up producing a waterfall that runs forever. People walking up
and down
round the top of a building in eternal ascent or descent was also
created by Escher's amazing imagination. In "Reptiles" Escher
combined two
and three-dimensional images. That's leaving aside the absurdity of
Escher's 'Relativity' or 'House of Stairs' that are like something out
of
Cthulu! In one of his papers, Escher emphasized the importance of
dimensionality and described himself as "irritated" by flat shapes: "I
make
them come out of the plane." This was not mere frivolity on
Escher's part though. MC Escher saw a deep meaning in these
impossible
scenarios and some were inspired by experiences in his own life or what
had happened to people he knew.
MC Escher started drawing at secondary school in Arnhem but although
his drawing was excellent his grades were often poor. He was
a sickly
child, and had attended a special school from the age of seven and
failed the second grade. Until he was thirteen
years old MC Escher also
took carpentry and piano lessons .
In 1919, MC Escher went to the Haarlem School of Architecture and
Decorative Arts for three years where he briefly studied
architecture.
However, he again failed a number of subjects and switched to
decorative arts. Here Escher studied under Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita
and
continued his interest in graphic design. MC Escher remained
friends with him for several years. In 1922 Escher left the
school. After
finishing his degree at the School he went to Italy and after a couple
of years he settled down in Rome where he stayed for ten years although
he
made many study trips to other countries during this time. Having
gained experience in drawing and making woodcuts Escher then studied
under FW Van der Haagen and became far more interested in graphics,
learning a variety of techniques including linocut where a piece of
linoleum is cut with a knife to make what is effectively a simple
printing plate. MC Escher's main mediums were ink and pencil
but he also
used a variety of others including the linocut technique.
Escher also studied the mathematical concepts of topology and learned
additional
concepts in mathematics from the British mathematician Roger Penrose
that were behind such Escher masterpieces as 'Waterfall' and
'Ascending & Descending'. One of his most notable
works is the piece Metamorphosis II, which is wide enough to cover all
the walls in a
room, and then loop back onto itself.
In 1934 he moved to Switzerland where he lived for a couple of years
before moving to Brussels. In 1954 Escher became a lecturer.
A planned
Escher lecture tour in North America in 1962 was cancelled due to
illness, but the materials produced by Escher later formed the basis of
the
book 'Escher on Escher'.
Overall, his early love of Roman and Italian landscapes and of nature
led to his interest in the concept of regular division of a plane,
which he
applied in over 150 colored works. Other mathematical principles
evidenced in his works include the superposition of a hyperbolic plane
on a
fixed 2-dimensional plane, and the incorporation of three-dimensional
objects such as spheres, columns and cubes into his works. In
1958,
Escher published a book entitled Regular Division of the Plane, with
reproductions of a series of woodcuts based on tessellations of the
plane,
in which he described the systematic buildup of mathematical designs in
MC Escher artworks. MC Escher always said, "Mathematicians have
opened the gate leading to an extensive domain." In July 1969
MC Escher finished his last work, a woodcut called Snakes, in which
snakes
wind through a pattern of linked rings which fade to infinity toward
both the center and the edge of a circle.
His work became very popular during the sixties and seventies, Escher
art often being used by people without crediting him or paying
royalties.
Escher had a hard time in his later life trying to keep
control of his work. MC Escher spent the last part of his
life in Baarn in Holland until his
death on 27 March 1972. After his death MC Escher's fame
spread further and he assumed a kind of cult status in graphic
design. MC Escher's
work, being bold black drawing for the most part has not really dated
and an MC Escher impossible puzzle looks as fresh today as it did then.
The unusual Escher way of thinking and the rich graphic work of M.C.
Escher has had a continuous influence in science and art, as well as
being referenced in popular culture. Ownership of the Escher
intellectual property and art works have sadly become separated but
Escher prints
and Escher posters etc are still available and can be bought
here. At Artists UK we have supplied MC Escher print and
posters to collectors and
businesses for many years. We once fitted out a whole suite
of offices with framed Escher prints and posters. The company
was in engineering
and Escher fitted perfectly with the image.
For provoking art then MC Escher's impossible art prints or posters are
perfect - someone seeing Escher's endless 'Waterfall', Escher's bizarre
'Relativity' or Escher's two hands drawing each other is going to be
drawn to comment. We have a large range of MC Escher prints and posters
as well as fine-art prints or there are MC Escher puzzles, MC Escher cards, MC Escher bookmarks
and other Escher products for yourself or
to give someone else a slice of MC Escher mind-bending. You can even wear MC Escher art!
MC Escher's work on the Web
Waterfall by MC Escher
Relativity by MC Escher
Drawing Hands by MC Escher
[ Top | Homepage
| Artists | Gallery
]
MC
Escher profile - Copyright ©
2011 Artists UK