Get to know Maurits Cornelis Escher. Articles by our curator and other authors which provide deeper insight into his life and work. In Escher Today you can follow the artist even more closely.
It won’t have escaped your attention: 2014 was devoted to A SENSE OF WONDER, both in Escher in The Palace and therefore also in this concluding story. The vast majority of our visitors believe that a sense of wonder is important when viewing the work of M.C. Escher. The technical skill that is required to capture the seemingly impossible is truly staggering to all those who come into contact with Escher's work.
“If we divide the picture vertically into three strips, the two extreme parts are both acceptable as realities, but in other respects each other's inversion. In the central strip, things are uncertain and can be seen in two different ways: a floor is also a ceiling; an interior is also an exterior; convex is concave at the same time."
One of the main themes in the work of M.C. Escher is that of perpetual motion: motion that continues indefinitely, generated and maintained by its own momentum. As we have seen in previous stories, Escher was intrigued by the notion of perpetual motion and explored different ways of depicting it in his work.
Anyone seeing Curl-up, as Wentelteefje is commonly called in English, is surprised at all the bizarre details. Escher always said that he was good at copying, a claim that was met with a good deal of mirth; after all, how does this explain all his fantastical creations?
Whenever the name Escher is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is optical illusion. We have lost count of the number of visitors who have said to us: “As a teenager, I used to spend hours staring at those Escher prints in an effort to work out HOW he fooled me.” The visual tricks that he played on us continue to amaze us to this day.
Dutchman Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) is one of the most famous graphic artists in the world. The way he plays with perspective, space and reality means he remains fascinating even today. The highlights of his collection can be seen in Escher in The Palace.
The life of Escher, year by year. In over 70 informative chapters you learn about his life and work, ending with the opening of Escher in The Palace.
Throughout the years several interesting documentaries and short films have been made about printmaker M.C. Escher. On this page we show a selection of them, along with a brief description.