| In March 1923, during a trip to Ravell, Escher, for the first time meets Jetta (Julia) Umiker, the daughter of a Swiss industrialist (before 1917, he had two textile mills in Nakhabino, near Moscow). Maurits proposed to her at the last moment, when her family was almost leaving for Switzerland; they were engaged and the marriage took place on May 12, 1924 in Viareggio, Italy. During the honeymoon trip, they go to Osterbek, staying for long periods in Genoa, Annecy, Paris and Brussels. The couple return back to live in Italy and purchase an unfinished house in Frascati, near Rome. In October 1925, the couple move into the newly bought house. On October 16, Arnold, the brother of Escher dies in the mountains in South Tyrol and the artist was forced to visit the site to identify the body. Particularly, only after this incident, Escher starts creating his "Creative Days ".
George, a son is born to the couple in Rome on July, 1926. Victor Emmanuel III &and Mussolini attended the christening ceremony of George. A second son, Arthur, was born in 1928.
In the late 1920s, Escher gained popularity in the Netherlands, not in the last instance, thanks to the efforts of his parents, who by that time moved to Hague. Thus, in 1929, he could organize five exhibitions in Holland and Switzerland, which received favorable reviews in the press including the most influential Netherlands’ newspapers. It was during this period that his pictures were, for the first time, labeled as mechanical and "logical". Since 1931, the artist was more and more interested in face woodcuts. In all, he created 448 lithographs and engravings and about 2000 drawings and sketches. In spite of this, during the Italian period, Escher could not support the family with the earnings from the sale of his works and lived on his father's financial support.
At the end of the 1930s and in 1931, Escher’s health condition worsened, which hampered the creation of new works. However, G. J Hoogewerf, the director of the Dutch historical museum in Rome, suggested to him to write about several of his works in journals and publish a book. Selected works were published in 1932 as part of the “Emblemata” book. In 1933, the office of engravings in Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, the leading museum of The Netherlands, acquired twenty-six works by Escher.
Escher’s lived in Italy till July 4, 1935. Due to political instability in Fascist Italy and due to the health problems of his nine year old son, the family was forced to sell their house in Rome and leave Italy.
Switzerland and Belgium (1935 – 1941):
Immediately after arriving in Chateau d'eau, (Switzerland), in the summer of 1935, Escher leaves for Hague, to his parents, where he creates the most famous portrait of his father. It was expensive in Switzerland and Escher had to work hard. Jetta once again started playing piano and Escher joined the chess club. He tried to create landscapes but was disappointed with the loss of warmth, which was received in the Italian landscapes. In early 1936, he once again decided to go to South Europe and requested to a shipping company that he would take images of their ships and harbors in exchange for free travel. To his surprise, the company "Adria" agreed; Jetta joined his trip in May and by September 1, the couple returned to Chateau d'eau. It was the last great journey of the artist to Mediterranean Italy. On the steamship, they sailed along the coast of Italy and then to Spain, where Escher visited Alhambra for the second time. By the end of 1936, Escher created his first painting of impossible reality "Still Life and Street".
1937 is a transition period in the creative work of Escher, when he changed the genre of landscapes to create works those express geometric designs.
In August 1937, the family, that could not adjust to the countryside atmosphere of Switzerland, moved to Ukkel, a suburb of Brussels. Escher shows his painting, on which he is working, to his brother, Behrend, who was a crystallographer. Behrend identifies the possibility of applying these ideas in crystallography. In 1938, Escher creates the foundation for his famous lithograph "Day and Night".
George Arnold Escher, the father of the artist, died at the age of 96 in Hague on June 14, 1939. Several months later, Escher creates the famous "Metamorphosis". Sarah Adriana Gleichman died on May 27, 1940. During that period, Brussels has already been occupied by Nazi Germany and Escher could not attend the funeral ceremony of his mother. In the second half of the year, he settles his financial affairs and also completes the job of decorating the building of the Mayor of Leiden.
The Netherlands (1941—1972):
In January 1941, Escher’s returned back to the Netherlands. From February 20, 1941, the couple lived in Baarn and in 1955, the couple moved into a new house in the same city. Escher survived the German occupation in the Netherlands. Even before the end of war, he completed the sketch of the diploma for Temporary Academy in Eindhoven, institution that existed in south-east part of the country, which was unoccupied. Immediately after the war, Escher participated in an exhibition of artists, who refused to cooperate with the Nazi regime.
In 1946, Escher showed an interest in gravure printing technology, but it took a lot of time away from him, due to which, he created no more than seven imprints in the mezzotint style till 1951. He no longer worked in the gravure printing technology, preferring tonal contrasts but not linear outlines. |
On June 14, artists around the world celebrated the 112th birthday of Maurits 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,
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.
