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Spring
Semester 1998 Vol. 9, No. 3
M.
C. ESCHER:
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
"We
live in a beautiful and orderly world, not in a chaos without norms,
even though this is how it sometimes appears."
Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher, better known as M.C. Escher, became widely known and acclaimed during his lifetime for his highly complex drawings, linocuts, and woodblock prints. Escher’s images are easily recognizable, often presented in the form of tessellations (repeating, reflecting, or reversing shapes), optical illusions, or impossible constructions.
The Early
Years
Born in Leeuwarden, Holland, and the son of a civil engineer, M.C. Escher—whose
friends and family called "Mauk"—showed little aptitude
for formal education and consistently produced poor grades in his studies.
Although he excelled in art classes, especially in drawing, Escher nonetheless
failed his final drawing exam in secondary school and never officially
graduated. Later, at the age of 20, a military deferment provided Escher
additional time and opportunities to pursue his education.
Accepted and enrolled at the Higher Technology School (Delft) and subsequently at the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts (Haarlem), Escher quickly abandoned classroom studies for private art lessons with graphic artist Samuel de Mesquita. Private study (particularly in woodblock printing processes) in conjunction to extended trips in Italy became the catalyst that set Escher and his work in motion. Escher loved southern Europe. In this environment he filled sketchbooks with landscape drawings that included pictures of cacti, olive trees, and small animals. These drawings often populated his subsequent prints.
Escher’s first solo art exhibition was held in August 1923 in the city of Siena. A few weeks later Escher proposed to Jetta Umiker; she accepted and they were married within a year. Following a wedding trip through southern Europe they purchased a home in Frascati, a small town outside of Rome. The popularity of Escher’s artwork—mainly exacting Italian landscapes—soared. In testimony to the respect that they had for the artist and his artwork, when M.C. and Jetta’s first son was born in 1926, both Benito Mussolini and King Emmanuel attended the baby’s christening. Throughout the 1920s Escher continued to have his works of art shown. In 1929 he had no fewer than five solo exhibitions.
Tessellations
and Impossible Realities
The 1930s and 40s brought many changes for Escher, both personal and professional.
With the rise of the Fascist Party in Italy, the Eschers left their beloved
Italy and relocated to Switzerland. Later, the family immigrated to Brussels
and then a few years later to Holland.
Within a year of immigrating to Switzerland, Escher undertook a journey to Spain where he visited the Moorish palace, Alhambra. This visit proved to be fortuitous for the artist. Captivated by the geometric-patterned tile mosaics of the palace, Escher made numerous sketches of the mosaic patterns, returned to Switzerland, and changed his artistic focus from realistic landscapes to artwork of his own invention. Impeccably drawn and printed with precise detail, Escher’s tessellations and impossible realities or constructions soon became the hallmark by which he is now best remembered. Indeed, more often than not, the orderly and perfectly drawn world in Escher’s prints seem to challenge our senses and force us to question what is and is not real.
Many of Escher’s complex drawings show the same object from a variety of oftentimes conflicting views of space, dimension, or infinity. To assist himself with visualization of the diverse points of view, Escher often created small models from clay or wood that often remained with him long after their original intended use. For example, a plasticine and wood model of a crocodile-like creature that the artist carved as a model for his print Reptiles, 1943, became a favorite object that remained a part of the artist’s own collection and was displayed on his desk.
In the early 1950s Escher began to gain wide recognition in the United States. Although he often complained about the number of orders he was receiving for prints, because of a strong work ethic and dedication to his craft he always seemed pleased to fill them. The artist frequently gave lectures not only to groups of accomplished artists, but scientists and mathematicians as well. In further recognition, a seemingly endless number of articles and books were written to explore the complexities of Escher’s work. During this time Escher was also knighted in Holland, an honor that he shunned. Because of ill health that had plagued him throughout most of his adult life and much preferring to work on his prints "day after day like a hermit," Escher took a respite from the lecture circuit and returned to his drafting table.
Jetta, never happy in Holland, moved back to Switzerland in 1968 where she lived the remainder of her life. Escher stayed in Baarn, Holland immersed himself in his work. His final graphic, completed in1969, was Snakes. Following a series of frequent hospital stays and surgeries, M.C. Escher died in 1972 in Baarn. Escher’s graphic art remains as popular today as it was during his lifetime and he continues to be honored with articles, books, and web sites that explore his life and work.
Pamela Geiger Stephens
INTERNET RESOURCES ABOUT ESCHER
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