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| | Maurits Cornelis Escher(1898 - 1972) - Dutch graphic artist. He is popular mainly for his conceptual lithographs, engravings on wood and metal, in which he skillfully studied plastic aspects of concepts, such as infinity and symmetry and also peculiarities of psychological perception of complex three-dimensional objects.
Biography:
Maurits Escher was born on June 17, 1898 in Leeuwarden city, which is an administrative centre of Netherlands province Friesland, in an engineer’s family. In 1903, family relocated to Arnhem, where the boy for some time studied joiner's work and music. From 1912 till 1918, Maurits attended high school. Though from an early age he displayed capabilities towards drawing, his successes in the school were rather mediocre.
In 1919, Escher joined School of Architecture and Decorative Arts in the city of Haarlem. Artist Samuel de Mesquita was Escher’s teacher, who influenced the young Escher hugely (Escher maintained friendly relations with Mesquita till 1944, when Mesquita, a Jew by origin, was destroyed along with family by nazis).
In the early twenties, Escher often traveled to Italy. There in Italy, he met Jetta Umiker for the first time, whom he married in 1924. The couple lived in Rome till 1935 when stay in Italy, under the Mussolini regime became unbearable for them. Then, Eschers shifted to Shato-d'O (Switzerland).
In January 1941, after the beginning of World War II, Eschers returned back to Netherlands. From 1940 upto 1970, they lived in the Dutch city of Baarn. In July 1969, Escher made his last engraving on wood — "Snakes".
Escher died on March 27, 1972 in his house in Laren, in the north of Netherlands. |
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Today is the 110th 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 not approved for being too "twisted"). The total
count of Escher's works during his lifetime is over 2000.
