| Maurits Cornelis Escher (June 17, 1898, Leeuwarden, Netherlands - March 27, 1972, Laren, Netherlands) was a Dutch graphic artist. He was known primarily for his conceptual lithographs, engravings on wood and metal, in which he masterfully explored the aspects of the plastic concepts of infinity and symmetry as well as the features of the psychological perception of complex 3D objects.
Biography:
The Netherlands (1898 - 1922)
Maurits Escher (nicknamed “Mauk”) was born on June 17, 1898 in Leeuwarden, the administrative center of the Friesland province, in the Netherlands, into the family of an engineer. His parents were George Arnold Escher and Sarah Adriana Gleichman - Escher, second wife of George and daughter of a minister), Maurits was the youngest son (he had four older brothers, Edmond and Behrend – from the first marriage of his father, Arnold and Johan from the second marriage). The family lived in palace “Princessehof”, in the 18th century, which belonged to Marie Louise of Hesse-Kassel, mother of Stadhouder William IV. Presently, the Princessehof houses a ceramics museum and stele made from glazed tiles, made by Escher, stands in the courtyard.
In 1903, the family moved to Arnhem. In Arnhem Escher studied carpentry and music for some time from 1907 and at the age of seven, he spent a year at the Children's Hospital in the seaside town of Zandvoort to improve his poor health. From 1912 to 1918, Maurits attended high school. Although at an early age he showed a talent for drawing, his successes at school were rather mediocre (among other things, he failed in his drawing examination). In 1916, Escher completed his first linoleum engraving, a portrait of his father George A. Escher.
In 1917, the Escher family moved to Osterbek (a suburb of Arnhem). At that time, for several years, Escher and his friends were interested in literature, Maurits wrote poetry and essays. He could not pass the final four exams and hence could not get matriculation certificate. Despite the lack of a diploma, because of a mistake in Dutch law, he could not postpone military service to continue his studies and in 1918, he started taking lessons at Delft’s Technical School of Architecture. Because of poor health, Escher did not cope with studies and was dropped from the school. But in 1919, he enrolled in the School of Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem, from which he graduated in 1922. There, his teacher was painter Samuel de Mesquita, who had a huge influence on the young man. Escher maintained friendly relations with Mesquita until 1944, when Mesquita, a Jew by birth, was arrested on February 1 along with his family and sent to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Almost immediately after arriving (probably on February 11), Mesquita and his wife were murdered in the gas chambers. After the death of his teacher, Escher helped in sending Mesquita’s work to Amsterdam's Museum "Stedelijk " and kept only one sketch. In 1946, Escher organized a memorial exhibition in the referred museum.
Escher deliberately chose the career of engraver and not that of a painter (oil). According to a researcher of art, Hans Locher, Escher was attracted by the opportunity of obtaining a set of imprints, which was provided by graphical techniques, since at an early age, he was already interested in the repetition of images.
In 1921, Escher and his family visited Northern Italy and the French Riviera. This was the first trip taken by Escher. He first traveled abroad and had the opportunity to get acquainted with the art of the Italian Renaissance, which had a strong impression on him. He draws olive trees and starts experimenting with spheres and mirrors. His engravings illustrate a humorous booklet by his friend, Ada van Stolk Flor de Pascua (“The Easter flower”), released in October in the Netherlands. The first published work, which was sold in huge numbers, was "St. Francis" (Sermon of birds). Motifs, characteristic of the late works of Escher, for instance, the distortion of space in his self-portrait in a spherical mirror, already began appearing in this book.
Italy (1922—1935):
In April 1922, Escher and two of his friends went to Italy, where they were joined by a sister of one of the friends. According to legend, his mother had sent the boy by uttering the words "My son, do not smoke too much" (Escher was a heavy smoker throughout his life). Two of his friends returned back from Florence to the Netherlands after a couple of weeks, as they ran out of money and Escher went to San Gimignano. He draws Volterra and Siena and for the first time sees a fluorescent sea. The entire spring of 1922 he spent in the outskirts of the city, drawing landscapes, plants and insects. Escher also visited Assisi, Ravenna, Venice, Padua and Milan. In June, Escher returned to Osterbek with the intent of settling down permanently in Italy. In September 1922, he reaches Spain on a ship, where he visited Barcelona and Madrid, attended a bullfight and then went to Granada and learns the Mauritania style in Alhambra. After returning back to Italy, he settles down in Siena from November. In August 1923, Escher organizes his first personal exhibition, on which the artist could sell only one work. Since November 1923, Escher lived in Rome. Before 1935, he traveled every year to Italy for at least two months, visiting Sicily, Abruzzo, Campania and also Corsica, Malta and Tunisia. During this period, he created many landscapes, in which one can guess the future geometric experiences of the painter. |
On June 14, artists around the world celebrated the 113th 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.
