One of the most famous graphic artists in the world is Maurtis Cornelis Escher, who lived from 1898 until 1972. Escher's art is enjoyed by millions of people the world over and is evident throughout websites on the Internet in this day and age. He gained his greatest fame for such items as his fantastic illustration Ascending and Descending. Others of his famous works include Relativity, Transformation Prints, the Metamorphis series, as well as Sky & Water I and Reptiles. During his lifetime, Escher made 448 lithographs, woodcuts and wood engravings and over 2000 drawings and sketches. Quite like some of his famous predecessors, people like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Escher was a left handed artist. In addition to being a graphic artist, Escher also worked to illustrate books, designed tapestries, and created designs for postage stamps and murals. Escher was born in Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. He was the fourth and youngest son of a civil engineer. After 5 years the family moved to Arnhem. It was here that Escher spent most of his youth. After failing to pass his high school exams, Escher enrolled in the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Harlem. He involved himself with architecture, perspective and impossible spaces during the course of his studies and throughout his life. His art continues to amaze and wonder millions of people the world over even in the jaded 21st century. Through his work people recognize his keen observation of the world. Through his amazing works, Escher shows us that reality is wondrous, comprehensible and fascinating.
The creative work of Escher:
The witty perception of logic and plastic paradoxes are characteristic for the "classical" creations of Escher (“Drawing hands”, “Metamorphoses”, “Day and Night”, “Reptiles”, “Encounter", “House of Stairs” etc.). In combination with masterly techniques, this makes a huge impression. Many graphic and conceptual findings of Escher were incorporated in a number of symbols of the 20th century and subsequently were repeatedly reproduced or “cited” by other artists.
One of the most outstanding creativity aspects of Escher is the representation of “Metamorphosis”, figuring in various forms in many works. The artist, in detail, studies the gradual transition from one geometrical figure into another through negligible changes in outlines. Also, Escher repeatedly drew metamorphoses, occurring with living beings (birds transform into fishes and so forth) and even "animated" unanimated objects, transforming them into living beings, during metamorphoses.
Maurits Escher is one of the first few artists who began to represent fractals in mosaic paintings. Only after decades, scientists started studying the characteristics of these figures and created these figures by using a computer, which Escher created by hand.
The mathematical works of Escher:
When he attended school, his parents anticipated that Escher would go on to become an architect but poor health did not allow Escher to complete his studies and thus he became an artist. Before the 1950s, Escher was not popular enough but after a series of exhibitions and articles in American magazines (Time, etc.), Escher received worldwide popularity. Mathematicians were also his enthusiastic admirers, who saw the original visual interpretation of some mathematical laws in his works. It is more interesting to know that Escher had no special mathematical education.
The life of Escher, as often written in biographies by outstanding personalities, was rather poor with events. Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in the city of Leeuwarden in the year 1898. In school, he was very poor in studies (one more characteristic detail of the biography of well-known personality!); he felt comfortable with drawing. His father, a hydraulic engineer, wanted his son to receive a solid profession; and in 1919, Escher attended Harlem’s School of Architecture and Decorative Arts. In 1922, after studying two years in school, Escher moves to Italy, where he lived for 13 years. Every summer, he traveled to Southern Italy or Spain.
The summer impressions served as material for engravings, over which he worked in winter. By the middle of the 1930s, the political climate in Italy became intolerant. In 1935, fascists forced the nine year old son of Escher to wear a uniform of a young fascist; this incident provided the impetus in taking a decision by the family to relocate to Switzerland. Cold snowy Switzerland had a depressing effect on Escher. He contacted the shipping company, which carried out the shipping of cargo across the Mediterranean Sea, with a request to permit him to travel on board ships by paying through engravings, which he made en route. Surprisingly, the offer was accepted. It was the last major travel of Escher. After that, he did not have to get outside impressions for creativity.
Since 1941, Escher constantly lived in Holland. He received worldwide popularity in 1951 after publication in three popular magazines: "The Studio", "Time" and "Life". In 1954, a big exhibition of Escher was organized in Amsterdam, which was associated to the international mathematical congress. Mathematicians recognized “their” artist at once; from now on, his paintings were an invariable attribute of physical and mathematical editions ("Quantum" published the works of Escher more than 20 times). Fame did not change the way of life of the artist, who persistently continued to work. He died on March 27, 1971. |
