| In 1949, Escher with two more artists, organizes a big exhibition of his graphic works in Rotterdam; a number of creations were sold and the artists talked about their creations (in particular, Escher said that, for the creation of "Reptiles", he made a small figure out of clay and moved it on the table). After the publication of two articles, Escher became famous in the U.S. At the end of 1950, Israel Shenker, a correspondent of the journal “The Studio” interviews Escher. The interview was published in February 1951. In the same year, magazines “Time” (April 2) and “Life” (May 7) publishes articles on Escher. Since then, Escher, who was popular in Europe but little known in America, received worldwide recognition.
Flourishing popularity:
In the 1950s, Escher attained popularity as a public lecturer and in 1950 in Washington; his first solo exhibition was organized in the United States. After this, the sales of his creations increased in the US. Therefore, in the mid 1950s, he sold 150 works amounting to 2125 USD through a Washington dealer. The artist traveled extensively and from 1954 to 1961, he makes at least one trip a year on a ship, usually to Italy. In 1954, a large exhibition of his works was held in the museum "Stedelijk" simultaneously with the World Congress of Mathematicians in Amsterdam. As a result, the artist could not spend much time on creations - in 1954, Escher completed only two works.
On April 27, 1955 Queen Wilhelmina conferred a Knighthood on Escher (of the fifth degree, Knight of the Orange-Nassau). In 1957, the artist was given an order to make a fresco in Utrecht, on which the artist worked all through 1958. In October 1958, George Escher completed University and immigrated to Canada.
After studying the article of geometrician Donald Coxeter, from Ottawa, who illustrated the system of samples, decreasing with distance from the center (hyperbolic tessellations), Escher created a number of works (the Coxeter effect was observed in at least six, in particular, "Circle Limit ") with decreasing objects when approached to the center and also on moving away from it.
In 1959, the artist met with chemist and crystallographer Caroline Macgillavry and upon her invitation, Escher delivers a lecture on symmetry during the international crystallographic conference in Cambridge in August 1960. On August 29, he fly's to Vancouver and in October, delivers lectures in Ottawa and MIT.
At the same time, the artist receives an article by Lionel Penrose and Roger Penrose from the "British Journal of Psychology", which was published a year earlier. Under the influence of the effect "Penrose Stairs", described in the article, the artist creates a picture "Up and down”. In 1958, Escher published Regelmatige vlakverdeling (Regular Division of the Plane), in 1959 - Grafik en Tekeningen (Graphic Works), in which the artist commented on 76 of his works.
On July 29, 1961, a big article by Ernst Gombrich on Escher’s creative work was published in the influential weekly magazine “The Saturday Evening Post”.
Last years:
In 1962, the artist underwent emergency surgery and stayed in hospital for a long period of time. In 1964, Escher once again went to Canada to see his son and read a few lectures, but almost immediately undergoes an operation in Toronto and then returns to Europe. After that, his health condition starts deteriorating and at the end of 1960s, he needed constant care.
In 1965, Escher was conferred the award of Hilversum (Hilversumse Cultuurpreis) and Caroline Macgillavry publishes “Symmetry Aspects of M. C. Escher's Periodic Drawings”. In 1967, the article, devoted to the creativity of M.C. Escher was published in the October issue of popular science magazine “Scientific American". In 1967, Queen Juliana confers the fourth degree Knight (Officer of Orange-Nassau) on Escher. In 1968, a retrospective was organized in The Hague on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Escher; at the end of that year, Jetta, who was never happy with life in Netherlands, returned to Switzerland. Although the couple did not formally file for divorce, they never lived together.
In July 1969, Escher created his last woodcut "Snakes". In 1970, he once again underwent an operation and was hospitalized. Escher moved to an Old Age Home for artists “Rosa-Spier-Huis” in Laren, near Hilversum. A film about Escher’s creative work was demonstrated during the World Exhibition in Osaka.
In 1971, Escher published “De werelden van M. C. Escher” (The World of M.C. Escher), the book was translated into English while he was still alive.
Escher died on March 27, 1972 in “Diakonessehuis” hospital in Hilversum due to colorectal cancer. He was buried in Baarn cemetery in the graveyard “Nieuwe Algemeen Begraafsplaats”.
M.C.Escher had three sons: George (1926), Arthur (1928) and Jan (1938). The eldest of them, George, regularly delivers lectures on the creative work of his father. |
Today is the 111th birthday of Maurtis Cornelis Escher - one of the most
famous and recognizable artists in history. Escher's unique vision of
the world combined art, patterns, and mathematics to create some of
the physically impossible yet realistically looking illustrations,
like "Waterfall" and "Ascending and Descending". Quite like some of
his famous predecessors, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Escher
was a left handed artist. In addition to many famous drawings which,
Escher also illustrated books, designed tapestries, and even was hired
by the Dutch government to design new Dutch money in the 50s (the
banknotes were finally not approved for being too "twisted"). The total
count of Escher's works during his lifetime is over 2000.
