Escher in The Palace offers a varied programme for secondary education (including special secondary education), for pupils new to high school to pupils sitting their final exams. Bespoke programmes are also possible in consultation. They have been developed in tandem with the permanent and temporary exhibitions and guarantee interaction, amazement and discovery.
The current programme is presented below.
Museum lesson
M.C. Escher, Regular Division of the Plane III, woodcut in red, May 1957
The infinite world of M.C. Escher
What makes artists so unique? They view reality differently to most people! In turn, their work and their actions subsequently prompt us to see the world afresh. Making everything around us new, unusual or surprising. The work of Maurits Cornelis Escher is unsurpassed in that respect. Escher is one of the most famous artists in the world. In his work, this modern Dutch master plays with perspective, space, mathematics and reality. Nothing is what it seems in his remarkable prints.
The museum lesson introduces pupils to the work of M.C. Escher and to The Palace. They will discover how Escher produced his prints and how he saw the world around him. Their time in the museum will leave them inspired and amazed. They will get a chance to draw their own tessellation on paper in the workshop held in our Escher Atelier. This workshop is the ideal opportunity to get to understand Escher’s mathematical tessellations and is adapted to the pupils’ level: from straightforward to complex. The workshop will challenge pupils irrespective of whether they are mainly studying sciences or humanities.
Period:
September 2023 to July 2024
Discipline:
Fine art, interdisciplinary
Topics:
Escher and mathematics
Duration:
75 minutes
Time:
Tuesday to Friday 09:00 – 15:30
Number of pupils:
Minimum 17, maximum 30 pupils. Minimum 1 supervisor per 17 pupils mandatory
Price:
€11.50 per pupil (inc. entry), based on a minimum of 17 pupils per group
For:
All year groups in secondary academic or vocational education
Practical and special education possible in consultation
Interested in this museum lesson and keen to book one? Feel free to contact us or book your school visit using the reservation form.
For secondary schools in The Hague, a €5.00 discount per pupil is available for this activity if those schools hold a culture card and sign up via CultuurSchakel.
Further information on signing up via CultuurSchakel can be obtained by getting in touch with Gerda Wessels, planning@cultuurschakel.nl
Bespoke sessions possible for special education:
Yes
Stimulation level:
Moderate stimulation (lesson can also be booked prior to opening hours)
Wheelchair accessible:
Yes
Audio induction loop:
No
Photo: Fred Ernst
Museum lesson
Just Like Escher
From remarkable reflections to impossible objects and from living landscapes to tempestuous tessellations — the artist Escher and the topics he adored are still prevalent in contemporary art. In the anniversary exhibition Just Like Escher, Escher in The Palace is offering not only M.C. Escher’s masterpieces but also a veritable smorgasbord of artworks by contemporary artists and designers, showing how Escher’s work is still very much embraced today. Pupils will discover during this museum lesson how contemporary artists and designers draw inspiration from M.C. Escher’s world-famous prints. What is inspiration and how does it manifest itself? What is still original? The pupils will get a chance to create their own artwork — inspired by Escher — in the workshop held in our Escher Atelier.
Period:
November 2023 to March 2024
Discipline:
Fine art, interdisciplinary
Topics:
Graphic art, applied art, fashion, inspiration
Duration:
75 minutes
Time:
Tuesday to Friday 09:00 – 15:30
Number of pupils:
Minimum 17, maximum 30 pupils. Minimum 1 supervisor per 17 pupils mandatory
Price:
€11.50 per pupil (inc. entry), based on a minimum of 17 pupils per group
For:
All year groups in secondary academic, vocational or practical education
To get the pupils to actively experience the art of M.C. Escher and contemporary artists | To give the pupils insight into what art and inspiration can be by paying close attention, by comparing and by doing creating their own collage during the art workshop | To teach the pupils about the production and properties of art | To enable the pupils to situate artworks in a social and art historical context.
Interested in this museum lesson and keen to book one? Feel free to contact us or book your school visit using the reservation form.
For secondary schools in The Hague, a €5.00 discount per pupil is available for this activity if those schools hold a culture card and sign up via CultuurSchakel.
Further information on signing up via CultuurSchakel can be obtained by getting in touch with Gerda Wessels, planning@cultuurschakel.nl
Bespoke sessions possible for special education:
Yes
Stimulation level:
Moderate stimulation (lesson can also be booked prior to opening hours)
Wheelchair accessible:
Yes
Audio induction loop:
No
Photo: Monique Veldhoven
Guided tour
In addition to the museum lesson, a stimulating guided tour around the permanent Escher exhibition is also possible.
How is it that time and again Escher manages to trick us with his optical illusions and impossible buildings? What do Islamic geometric patterns have to do with Escher’s prints and how come Escher used mathematical principles without him having any understanding (or so he claimed) of mathematical formulae? And what has made M.C. Escher one of the most popular artists in the world among people young and old since as far back as the 1950s?
The museum teaching staff will create a safe learning environment and adapt the tour to the perception of secondary pupils, from those new to high school to those sitting their final exams. The lesson for younger secondary pupils centres on an introduction to art and learning to look at art together. For older pupils there is some additional focus on the social and art historical context.
The museum’s teaching staff will alternate between knowledge transmission, visual games and philosophical questions.
Period:
September 2023 to July 2024
Discipline:
Fine art
Duration:
60 minutes
Time:
Tuesday to Friday 09:00 – 16:00
Number of pupils:
Maximum 15 per museum teacher. Booking several museum teachers at once is possible.
Price:
€85 per museum teacher and €5.50 per pupil (entry costs)
For:
All year groups in secondary academic, vocational or practical education
Supervision:
1 teacher per 15 pupils mandatory. Free entry for teacher.
Reservations:
Interested in this guided tour and keen to book one? Feel free to contact us or book your visit using the reservation form.
Bespoke sessions possible for special education:
Yes
Stimulation level:
Moderate stimulation (lesson can also be booked prior to opening hours)
Wheelchair accessible:
Yes
Audio induction loop:
No
Photo: Fred Ernst
Independent museum visit
Another option is to book a group visit and come and see the exhibition at your own convenience. This will entail you guiding the class around the museum independently. You would be welcome to use our free quiz for this purpose. The scavenger hunt enables pupils to discover the exhibition in an investigative way. It involves a mixture of observational questions and hands-on tasks. The pupils will be immersed in Escher’s wonderful world of fish transforming into birds and will discover how the artists and designers of today draw inspiration from Escher’s work.
The quiz answer sheet and additional information will be e-mailed to you once your reservation has been made. Enabling you to prepare for your museum visit.
If you will be bringing your class along to the museum between 1 November and 24 March 2024, then the jubilee exhibition Just Like Escher will be on in the museum. Download the accompanying Just Like Escher viewing guide here.
Coming along in the 2023-2024 school year but in a different time period to above? Then download the viewing guide Discover the Masterful Artworks of M.C. Escher..
We use cookies and similar techniques on this website to analyze visits and to show you relevant messages on social media. By clicking 'I accept' you consent to the placement thereof and the processing of personal data obtained in this way, as stated in our privacy & cookie statement Read more
