M. C. Escher

Lore & Background

Escher was born in Leeuwarden, the youngest son of a civil engineer. He was a sickly child, failed the second grade, and later studied at the Haarlem School of Architecture and Decorative Arts, switching from architecture to decorative arts under Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita. In 1922, he traveled through Italy and Spain, where the Moorish architecture of the Alhambra triggered his interest in tessellation. He lived in Rome from 1923 to 1935, marrying Jetta Umiker and fathering three sons. His early work drew from nature and architecture, but after 1937 his art shifted to geometric analysis and visual imagination, created in his studio.

Reader's Guide

Escher's significance lies in his unique fusion of graphic art with mathematical concepts, making him a bridge between the art world and mathematics. Although neglected by traditional art critics for being too intellectual and narrative, his work became highly popular among scientists, mathematicians, and the public. Martin Gardner's 1966 column in Scientific American boosted his fame, and his art influenced Douglas Hofstadter's Pulitzer Prize–winning book Gödel, Escher, Bach. His legacy includes celebrated exhibitions worldwide in the twenty-first century, and his works appear on book and album covers. Escher's meticulous technique, such as the nine-print operation for his final woodcut Snakes, demonstrates his mastery. He was knighted in 1955 and made an Officer in 1967, yet his art remains more esteemed outside the traditional art establishment.

Did You Know?

• Escher failed the second grade and was placed in a special school at age seven.
• He was 70 before a retrospective exhibition of his work was held.
• His final work, Snakes, was a large woodcut printed using nine operations per finished print.
• He designed semi-postal stamps for the Netherlands in 1935 and 1949.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"27 April 1955 Escher was decorated (in the name of the Dutch Queen) in the 'Knighthood of the Order of Oranje Nassau'" — M. C. Escher "Quote of Escher, from his essay on Tessellation 1957; as cited by Tony Thomas, in 'The Strange Worlds of M C Escher'" — M. C. Escher "After the first proof [of 'Sphere Spirals'] my high expectations were, as always, greatly disappointed. I am now struggling on - with some feeling of despair - so that I at least achieve a passable result." — M. C. Escher "As long as there have been men..

..upon this globe..

..we have held firmly to the notion of..

..all of which must continue to be everlasting in time and infinite in space." — M. C. Escher